PCR-12-31-2014

Vol. 147 No. 18

Two Sections - 28 Pages

© The Putnam County Record

Volume 147 No. 18 Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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1 Front

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New year ... new lawsAre you ready?

By Goldie CurrieShaw Media Service

Editor’s note: This is the first story in a series on new laws to be aware of in 2015.

With a new year, comes new laws for 2015.

Of the hundreds of new laws going into effect on Jan. 1, several have to do with crime, courts, cor-rections and law enforce-ment. Various topics include ticket quotas, bulletproof vests, drones, extending probation, defendant costs and more.

Beginning Jan. 1, law enforcement will no lon-ger be able to implement a

ticket quota system.This law pertains to

police administrators who may have implement-ed some kind of interde-partmental policy that required policemen to write so many tickets per officer.

While many may have heard of this system, it’s actually quite unusual for an area police/sher-

iff department to imple-ment a ticket quota system around this area.

Another new law that will go into effect is the “sign and drive” law, which prohibits the tak-ing of a driver’s license as bail following a traffic law or ordinance violation. Instead, those in violation

Less money in our pockets

Local income still not caught up to pre-recession rates

By Ken [email protected]

New figures released this month show the recovery from the Great Recession is not as profound as econo-mists have been saying. According to a Decem-ber study by the U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Income and Pov-erty Estimates (SAIPE) program, families in most of the country are still making less money now than they did when the recession started in 2007.

A majority of the counties nationwide show a decrease in income of 5.5 percent or more. Hardest hit are the southeastern states, the rust belt and the west coast where sever-al county residents are still making 11 percent less than they did seven years ago.

Where did the money go? Apparently North Dakota, where every county in the state shows an increase in average family income. The west-ern third of the state in particular did well with family averages up by a minimum of 30 percent over the pre-recession figures. South Dakota and Nebraska also show substantial gains in most of the state. Meanwhile, family income in Hawaii is down across the board while large portions of California, Florida, Ore-gon and Michigan show

substantial income decreases.

Illinois enjoys some mixed blessings. Much of the state is lower than before with families in metropolitan areas such as Peoria, the Quad Cities and Blooming-ton-Normal indicating families there are mak-ing up to 10 percent more than in 2007. Chi-cago bucks that trend where average income for families has dropped more than 5 percent and as much as 30 percent in outlying areas.

Locally, the news is not very good, with Putnam and LaSalle counties showing income averag-es down approximate-ly 7.5 percent. Bureau County is doing slightly better with an estimat-ed 4 percent decrease in annual income. Howev-er, the study also shows Putnam County as hav-ing one of the lowest percentages of families living in poverty. LaSal-le and Bureau Counties are slightly higher but still below the national average of 15.8 percent. The same shows the tri-county area experi-encing an approximate 4 percent increase in the poverty level since 2007.

Not surprisingly, a major contributor to the county averages is unemployment. With few exceptions, the counties having the low-est average income per family are also among those with higher unem-ployment.

PCR photo/Ken Schroeder

Welcoming a new year ...Toni Lawley at Axline Pharmacy in Granville holds up a new 2015 calendar. The pharmacy has been handing out calendars for the last few weeks. A new year means it’s time to toss out last year’s model for the new. Don’t forget to go through the year and mark down important anniversaries and birthdays that may have happened in 2014 for celebration in 2015.

Remembering 2014By Shannon Serpette

Shaw Media Service

Editor’s note: What hap-pened in 2014. Following is the second segment in the series focusing on happen-ings in 2014.

July 2Hennepin United Meth-

odist Church Pastor Carol Stufflebeam has been reassigned to the Virginia United Methodist Church

in Cass County, northwest of Springfield.

The new Veterans Wall in Coleman Park in McNabb will be dedicated July 6. More than 240 area veterans are named on the wall.

July 9Hennepin Village Pres-

ident Kevin Coleman said Hennepin had a great turnout for its annual Fourth of July celebration. One of the events that day

was the re-enactment of a Woodford County trial fea-turing Abraham Lincoln as the defending attorney. The re-enactment cele-brated the courthouse’s 175th birthday.

July 16Mike Vaskie Jr., 70, of

McNabb died July 6. Vaskie was a well-known and highly-respected com-munity volunteer, known as one of the Founding Fathers of the current

ambulance service.New royalty was select-

ed at the Marshall-Put-nam County Fair. Hannah Gorisek was named Lit-tle Miss. Junior Miss was awarded to Heidi Harri-son. The new Miss Mar-shall-Putnam Fair is Eliza-beth Rice.

July 23The Putnam County

Board approved rezoning a proposed site less than a mile away from Dollar

General for Shale Energy Services. The proposed sand transloading facility for that site is expected to employ 26 workers.

The Granville library branch will move to a new location. Patrons won’t have to look hard for the new location — it will be next door to its current building. The new location will have room for more seating and more books.

July 30

Gwen Bray was hired as the new outreach coor-dinator at the Putnam County Community Cen-ter in Standard. As out-reach coordinator, Bray will pass out information on the center’s programs to the appropriate people in Putnam County and outlying areas.

Aug. 6Darrell Alleman was

New laws Page 2

2014 Page 3

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2 • The Putnam County Record • Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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will instead have to give a signature.

Illinois is only one of six states which currently takes a driver’s license for a minor traffic offense.

The Illinois Secretary of State and Illinois leg-islators had a lot to do with this new law, which will hopefully clear up a lot of issues with driv-er’s licenses getting mis-placed through the sys-tem. Many times when

a driver’s licenses was taken, there were times when it would be mis-placed while going from officers to departments to records division and to the court

Another new law com-ing in 2015 will allow law enforcement to use a drone without a search warrant during a disaster or public health emer-gency, such as a flood, tornado or earthquake. It will not require an official declaration of a disaster or public emergency prior to use.

While this could be use-ful for police enforcement looking to use drones, it is doubtful it will have much impact on area police/sheriff departments.

Other laws related to law enforcement include:

Victim registry confidentialityProhibits the Prisoner

Review Board from releas-ing the name or address of a victim to anyone other than law enforcement. The law also prohibits the attorney general’s office

from releasing the per-sonal information of any person or entity registered to receive a victim’s infor-mation or notifications to anyone other than state or local officials.

‘Skype’ search warrants

Allows for electronic search warrants that uti-lize simultaneous audio and video transmis-sion between the person requesting the search warrant and the judge.

The chief judge or presid-ing judge in the issuing jurisdiction is to deter-mine standards and best practices policies for filing and retaining the trans-missions.

Bulletproof vestsRequires law enforce-

ment agencies to pro-vide vests for officers. It outlines requirements that the law enforcement agency, the state and local governments must pursue to provide funding for the costs of these vests.

New lawsFrom Page 1

Midwest Food Bank helps Putnam County Food PantryBy Dixie SchroeDer

[email protected]

BLOOMINGTON — It started with a dream in 2003. The Midwest Food Bank was created on a farm to help feed area peo-ple patronizing 10 food pantries in the Blooming-ton-Normal area. Today the organization has grown to six locations in Peoria, Morton, Bloom-ington, Indianapolis, Ind., Peachtree, Ga. and Fort Myers, Fla. They serve 750 food pantries a month. This translates into feed-ing more than half a mil-lion people each month.

The best part of the Midwest Food Bank? The food is free for the food pantries.

Most food banks charge for the food by the pound. The vehicle with trailer is weighed beforehand, then loaded and weighed after-wards for assessing pay-ment. Midwest Food Bank doesn’t work this way. This faith-based organi-zation has 40 to 50 vol-unteers on average during what they call “load out” week. This is the one week a month where organiza-tions come in to pick up their food. The volunteers load up the food pantry

vehicles with needed food as they come in for their appointment.

The other three weeks of the month, volunteers come in to repackage food which is donated in large quantities. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, church organizations and many others donate their efforts to the tune of 30,000 hours of volunteer time in 2013 at the Bloom-ington location. This was performed by 2,400 differ-ent volunteers. The group keeps costs down by hav-ing only four paid employ-ees in the building to go along with the volunteers.

The second part of the equation is the food. With an average of 22-24 semi truck loads of food a month going out to the various food pantries, the food has to come from somewhere. Midwest Food Bank sends out vol-unteer drivers in trucks to pick up food locally and nationally. The food is donated to the organi-zation, and they, in turn, prepare it to go back out to area food banks. Caterpil-lar, State Farm, ADM, CVS, Walgreens and others are some of the businesses which give food, products or monetary donations to help Midwest Food Bank.

Putnam County Food Pantry has been visiting the Bloomington location once a month for a long time, according to Put-nam County Food Pantry manager John Shimkus. Shimkus and James Car-boni make the monthly trip.

“Migliorini Build-ers have let us use their trailer for six years,” Shimkus said. “We bring home approximate-ly 1,500 pounds of food each month. It’s about one-quarter of our month-ly distribution. Down here we get all sorts of items. We get snacks, candy

and frozen foods among other things. Frozen food is most expensive to buy. When we first started coming down, there was only one person who got paid in the whole place.”

Midwest Food Bank also assists the Red Cross with natural disasters by having Red Cross disaster boxes prepared to go out at each of their locations, according to Mike Hoff-man, director of opera-tions.

“Inside of each box is enough food and items for a family of four to use for five days,” Hoffman said. “We package those here

with furnished boxes. So as soon as they (the Red Cross) call, the boxes are ready.”

Another level of Mid-west Food Bank is work-ing with the Backpack Program many area food pantries and schools han-dle. Students on the free and reduced lunch pro-gram at school receive user-friendly food to feed them during the weekend. The group is currently working with 25 schools which feeds more than 2,300 kids on a weekly basis.

Hoffman estimates for the year of 2014, the entire organization will distrib-ute $60 million of food.

Charity Navigator is a non-profit organization which rates non-profit groups. This allows indi-viduals and corporations the ability to assess if a charity is appropriate for donations. Charity Navi-gator has reviewed more than 10 years of financial data on Midwest Food Bank and ranked them No. 1 on the list of non-profit organizations to donate time or money to.

For more information on the Midwest Food Bank, visit http://www.midwestfoodbank.org/home.

PCR photo/Dixie SchroederLocal volunteers for food pantries sort through items donated by Walgreens and CVS businesses. Every time a store is remodeled, all items are removed from shelves and donated to Midwest Food Bank.

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Wednesday, December 31, 2014 • The Putnam County Record • 3

preparing for a special vis-itor to the baseball field he built at his rural Granville home. Frank Dardis, who played one of the ghost-ly ballplayers in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams,” will appear at Alleman’s diamond on Aug. 8. The evening will include a screening of the movie, which is now 25 years old.

The unemployment rate in Putnam County is high-er than the state average. As of June 1, the unem-ployment rate in Illinois is 7.5 percent. In Putnam County, the rate is 8.2 per-cent.

Aug. 13

The village of Magno-lia will celebrate its 190th anniversary with its annu-al MagnoliAffaire celebra-tion Aug. 15 through 17.

The Granville Village Board discussed having the village ordinances codified and listed on the village website. It would be much easier for resi-dents to look up village ordinances if they were online, board member Jim Pettit said.

Aug. 20The annual Nelson fam-

ily scholarships have been awarded to Donna Ben-nett, Kelsey Casolari, Julia Massino, Donnie Miller, Hannah and Monica Mon-roe, Leah Rolando and Emily Whitney.

Aug. 27

Putnam County School District Superintendent Jay McCracken said the total projected revenues for fiscal year 2015 are $10,374,605. The total expenditures are project-ed to be $10,541,989. That doesn’t necessarily mean the district will have a defi-cit budget. In the prior fis-cal year, the district was approximately $280,000 in the black after projecting a deficit budget.

Sept. 3Putnam County Emer-

gency Medical Services (PCEMS) is starting a fund-raiser for the acquisition of LifePak-15 cardiac moni-tors. The monitors are used on every ambulance

2014From Page 1

‘Tis the season for returningThe week after Christ-

mas when the gift-return season kicks in can be as hectic as the shopping time before the holiday. To make the effort as easy as possible, consumers should be aware of store return policies.

“Some retailers have changed their policies and these may not neces-sarily be to the benefit of the consumer,” explained Steve J. Bernas, president/CEO of the Better Busi-ness Bureau serving Chi-cago and Northern Illinois. “Shortening the amount of time for returns and mak-

ing specific requirements for different types of mer-chandise are all store issues that consumers need to be aware of. Returns of elec-tronics and appliances are most impacted by these requirements.”

Bernas noted that con-sumers who were used to having as many as 45 days to return their unwanted gifts now have in some case 30 days or as few as nine days. He also urged consumers to remember that returns are a cus-tomer service and are not required by law unless the merchandise is defective.

Consumers need to take extra care in understand-ing the return policies of the stores where they shop, and should not rely only on what they may be told by a sales clerk. They should look for and read the stores written policy, which by law must be dis-played.

If you plan to return an item, be prepared:

• Know the stores return policy – Read the store’s return policy in the store or online. Do not assume the regular return policy applies to sales or clear-ance items. Some mer-

chants consider sale items to be final.

• Have the receipt avail-able – Receipts are usual-ly needed for returns and they make the transaction much easier for everyone.

• Keep the original pack-aging – Electronics or sim-ilar products often require their original packaging when returning the item, so don’t destroy the boxes or throw them out.

• Know the online return policy – If the item was purchased online, check the online return policy for what is needed when making the return. Often,

online purchases come with preprinted return forms. Ask the gift giver if these exist.

• Returns are a courtesy, so be courteous – Many people are returning gifts, so remember that it can be a trying time for both the returners and the store personnel. And do not assume you have the right to return or exchange an unwanted present.

• Understand unusual policies – Your gift may have special requirements, such as health regula-tions, that can prohibit the return of certain items like

hats and intimate apparel. Consumers also should be aware that stores are on the lookout for fraud in the return process. Billions of dollars are lost due to return fraud. Many stores take additional steps to track customer returns and catch fraudulent or excessive returns. Because of these actions, customers may be asked for a driv-er’s license or some other government issued iden-tification when returning an item.

Find out more on Christ-mas returns by visiting bbb.org.

PCR file photoChildren of all ages enjoyed themselves at MagnoliAffaire. The festivities included a softball tournament and a cruise-in.2014 Page 4

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call. These monitors will take the place of LifePak-12 monitors, which will soon become obsolete. The cost of one monitor can run in excess of $35,000.

Sept. 10Karen Richardson, 66, of

Granville died on Sept. 2 in her home. Richardson was well-known in Putnam County, having retired from the Putnam Coun-ty Courthouse where she worked as a deputy circuit clerk. She had also served as the long-time Granville village treasurer.

Sept. 17Veterinarian John

Ehrhardt turned in his res-ignation as Putnam Coun-ty Emergency Manage-ment Agency coordinator, effective Sept. 30. He cited health issues as his reason for leaving. The Putnam County Board accepted Ehrhardt’s resignation with regret.

The Putnam County Board appointed Gregg Carr to the county ethics commission.

Sept. 24The Putnam County

Rotary gave a dictionary to 64 third-grade students at Putnam County Elemen-tary School. The Rotarians also gave a short lesson on how to use the dictio-naries.

Oct. 1John Grivetti of Stan-

dard announced his can-didacy for circuit judge in Putnam County. Grivetti, running as an indepen-dent in the Nov. 4 general election, has been practic-ing law for more than 43 years.

The Putnam County Junior High Lady Puma softball team earned sec-ond place in the Illinois Elementary School Asso-ciation State softball tour-

nament.Oct. 8Jim Pettit of Granville

discussed the two knee surgeries he has had in less than 10 years. Knee replacements have come a long way since his first one — Pettit said the second surgery was less painful and an easier process than the first one.

Oct. 15The Granville Village

Board observed a moment of silence at its Oct. 7 meeting in memory of Pete Fassino, a longtime promoter of Granville, who died on Sept. 30.

David Ward, who serves as president of North Central Bank in Henne-pin, was elected as group director of the Communi-ty Bankers Association of Illinois during the associ-ation’s annual convention in Chicago.

Oct. 22Matt Dean of Hennepin

was named one of Illinois Valley Community Col-lege’s Illinois Small Busi-ness Development Cen-ter’s 40 local up and com-ing young leaders under

the age of 40. Dean, 33, is a division chef/food fanatic chef with U.S. Foods out of Streator.

Oct. 29Putnam County School

District Superintendent Jay McCracken said if Illinois Senate Bill 16 becomes law, the school district stands to lose at least $874,000 in state aid each year. McCrack-en said he was setting a date to meet with Illinois State Rep. Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley) about the bill.

Nov. 5The Rev. Kristi Hopp has

been named the new pas-tor of the United Meth-odist churches in Putnam County. Three-quarters of her time will be spent in Putnam County, while the remaining time will be spend continuing small group ministries in Spring Bay, Ill. at the Riversedge United Methodist Church.

The Putnam County Lady Panthers volley-ball team won the Illinois High School Association Regional at St. Bede Acad-emy on Oct. 30.

Nov. 12Putnam County State’s

Attorney James Mack, a Republican, won the elec-tion contest for circuit judge for the 10th Judicial Circuit of Putnam Coun-ty. He will replace retiring judge Scott Shore. Mack ran against Democrat Brad Popurella and inde-pendent John Grivetti.

Republican Steve Mala-volti and Democrats Luke Holly and incumbent Duane Calbow earned the three spots available on the Putnam County Board during the Nov. 4 election. Democrat Eric Balma and write-in candidate Sandra Woest did not win seats in the election.

Nov. 19After sitting empty since

early 2010 when Arcelor-Mittal closed it, the Hen-nepin steel mill has been bought by IPS Steel. What the building will be used for is uncertain as most of the equipment in the mill was removed by Arcelor-Mittal after the plant was closed.

The Putnam Coun-ty Courthouse operating hours have changed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, effective Dec. 1.

Nov. 26The Granville Village

Board discussed joining the new Economic Devel-opment Corporation of North Central Illinois. The group, still in its infancy, would promote the area to potential businesses.

Dec. 3The purchase price of

the Hennepin steel plant was $13.4 million, accord-ing to Putnam County Clerk Dan Kuhn. Putnam County Board Chairman Duane Calbow confirmed most of the building is expected to be razed. He said he hopes to have a

conversation with the company that purchased the mill to find out what their plans for the facility are.

Christina Judd-Mennie was appointed as the Put-nam County State’s Attor-ney by the Putnam County Board at its Nov. 29 meet-ing. Her appointment will begin Dec. 1. She will replace James Mack, who served as state’s attorney before being elected cir-cuit judge in the Novem-ber election.

Dec. 10Michelle Slutz is the new

director of the Putnam County Community Cen-ter. She replaces former director Autumn Keegan, who moved back to Ken-tucky to be closer to her family.

Lynn Stickel celebrat-ed his 25th anniversary at Granville National Bank. Stickel currently serves as vice president, but when he was first began at the bank he worked in a section called the farm department.

Dec. 17The Putnam County

Board unanimously reap-pointed Duane Calbow as county board chairman. Steve Malavolti, elected to the board in November, was named vice chairman.

Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka died early Dec. 10 from com-plications from a stroke she suffered one day ear-lier. She was 70. Topinka began her political career as a state representative in 1980.

Dec. 24The Hennepin Village

Board observed a moment of silence at its Dec. 17 meeting to remember Hennepin resident Eric Ciucci. Ciucci was an employee of North Central Bank and was a golf coach at Putnam County High School. He died Dec. 12.

2014From Page 1

PCR file photoStudents look through their new dictionaries from the Putnam County Rotary. Each year the rotary hands out dictionaries for each third-grader in the Putnam County Elementary School.

Gladys MoewsGRANVILLE — Gladys

Marie Simpson Moews, 94, of rural Gran-ville died Fri-day, Dec. 26, 2014, at Manor Court in Peru.

Gladys was born May 19, 1920, in Spring Valley to George Sydney and Alice Marie (Lamb) Simpson. She married Bernhardt Eustus Moews on Jan. 20, 1943. He died Dec. 29, 1950.

She graduated from Hopkins High School and attended People’s Hospital Nursing Program.

Her husband, B.E. Moews, founded Moews Seed Co. and upon his death Gladys became co-owner and operator of the company.

Surviving is one daugh-ter, Bettina Moews of Gran-ville; and one niece, Mary Jane Kidd of Pennsylvania.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.

Funeral services will be private.

A public visitation was held from 4 to 7 p.m. Tues-day, Dec. 30, at the Dys-art-Cofoid Funeral Chapel in Granville.

Contributions may be directed to the Putnam County Ambulance, Stan-dard Fire and Rescue, Putnam County Sher-iff’s Department, Putnam County Historical Society or the donor’s choice.

Pallbearers were A.J. Crowley, Dave Trapkus, Scott Grosenbach, Ron Pas-sini, Dale Tunget and Don Massey.

Online condolences may be made to Gladys’ family at www.dcfunerals.com.

Moews

Obituaries

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Missing You,Wayne, Jeff, Melanie, Mike, Stephanie, Hanna,

Olivia, Morgan, Brayden, and Ryan

God looked around His gardenAnd found an empty space.

Then He looked down here on EarthAnd saw your loving face.

He put His arms around you,And lifted you to rest.

His garden must be beautifulBecause He only picks the best.A million times we’ll miss you,

A million times we’ll cry.If love could have saved you,You never would have died.In life we loved you dearlyIn death we love you still.

In our hearts you hold a special placeNo one could ever fill.

It broke our hearts to lose youBut you did not go alone.

For part of us went with youThe day God took you home.


Robert ‘Breck’ Breckenridge

LOSTANT — Robert G. “Breck” Breckenridge, 66, of Lostant passed away Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014, at his home.

Bob was born Aug. 28, 1948, in Spring Valley to Dale and Ruth (Harp-er) Brecken-ridge. He and his brother, Don, were the co-found-ers of Breck-enridge Bros. Trucking (Breckenridge Trucking), then Bob ventured into owner and operator of Breck’s Trucking. Bob

was also farmer for more than 30 years. He was a volunteer for the Lostant Fire Department and the McNabb ambulance. He was a member of the NRA, Lostant FFA, and an avid fisherman and hunt-er. He was a muscle car enthusiast and loved par-ticipating in truck pulls and four-wheeler pulls.

He is survived by Vivi-an Breckenridge of Dal-zell; his children, John (Shauna) Breckenridge of Streator, Maryann (Kevin) Stieghorst of Tremont and Barbara (Joe) Vin-yard of Washburn; eight grandchildren, Blaze Stieghorst, Ridge Stieg-horst, Salina Brecken-ridge, Gracie Vinyard, Montana Stieghorst, Joey

Vinyard, Cadence Breck-enridge and Lilly Breck-enridge; and a brother, Don (Karen) Brecken-ridge of Lostant.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Funeral services were held Monday, Dec. 29, at the Lostant United Meth-odist Church with the Rev. Mark Nowakowski, pastor, officiating. Burial followed in Hope Cem-etery.

Visitation was held Sunday, Dec. 28, at the Mueller Funeral Home in Lostant and Monday, Dec. 29, at the church.

Pallbearers were John Breckenridge, Joe Vin-yard, Kevin Stieghorst, Don Breckenridge, Mar-ion Naas, Ronnie Har-

lan, Ryan Thompson and Matt Thompson. Honor-ary pallbearers were Blaze and Ridge Stieghorst, Joey Vinyard and Willie Wever.

Memorial contributions may be directed to Put-nam County FFA, Lostant Fire Department, Lostant Methodist Church or Los-tant Grade School.

The online guest-book may be viewed and remembrances shared at www.MuellerFH.com.

Bernard ‘Bud’ Friel

HENNEPIN — Bernard D. “Bud” Friel, 76, of Hen-nepin passed away Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014, at his brother’s home in Tiskilwa.

He was born Nov. 9, 1938, in Lee County to Donald Sr. and Dorothy (Oester) Friel.

He was a mason/brick-

layer. He was a U.S. Army veteran, serving in the Korea era. He was always helping someone with odd jobs and he loved to gar-den.

He is survived by eight brothers, Delmar Friel of Princeton, Donald (San-dra) Friel Jr. of Tiskilwa, Gerald Friel of Tiskilwa, Richard Friel of Ponti-ac, Robert (Susan) Friel of Tiskilwa, John Friel of Hennepin, David Friel of Tiskilwa and Stephan Friel

of Princeton; seven sisters, Betty Potts of Dixon, Mar-garite Kuchenbecker of Frankfort, Rosie Woody-att of Albany, Karen (Jerry) O’Neill of Tiskilwa, Jeanne Kunde of Dixon, Barba-ra (Jay) Perry of Tiskilwa and Carolyn Montavan of Dixon; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Kathleen Moats.

Funeral services were

held Sunday, Dec. 28, in the Helmer-Shields Funer-al Home in Granville. Vis-itation was also held Sun-day, Dec. 28, in the funer-al home with full military honors performed by the Hennepin and Granville American Legion posts and the Granville V.F.W., and flag-folding by the U.S. Army. Burial will be at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be direct-ed to the family.

Ruth BoersPERU — Ruth A. Boers,

95, of Peru, formerly of M c N a b b , passed away Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014, at St. Marga-ret’s Hospital in Spring Val-ley.

Ruth was born May 12, 1919, in Lostant to Frank and Elizabeth (Dagner) Keilty. She married Edward

Boers on Jan. 15, 1939, in Peru. Ed passed away on Feb. 11, 2013.

Ruth was a beautician and a homemaker, and helped her husband, Ed, with the farming for many years. She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

Survivors include one daughter, Lynn (John) Shimkus of Granville; three grandchildren, Tim (Missy) Schlosser, Dan (Julie) Schlosser and Stephanie (Steve) Lieb;

three stepgrandchildren; six great-grandchildren, Nathan Schlosser, Kailey Schlosser, Kye Schlosser, Kenzie Schlosser, Lexi Lieb and Cody Lieb; and four stepgreat-grandchildren.

Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, three brothers and two sisters.

Services were held Sat-urday, Dec. 27, 2014, at Immanuel Lutheran Church (County Line), Peru, with the Rev. Roger Helgren officiating. Burial

was in Friends Cemetery, McNabb.

Visitation was also held Saturday, Dec. 27, at her church prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, con-tributions may be direct-ed to Immanuel Lutheran Church or to the donor’s choice.

The Dysart-Cofoid Funeral Chapel in Gran-ville is assisting the fami-ly with the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to Ruth’s family at www.dcfunerals.com.

Anthony Dzierzynski

SPRING VALLEY — Anthony J. Dzierzynski, 84, of Spring Valley died at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, s u r r o u n d e d by his fami-ly at OSF St. Francis Med-ical Center in Peoria.

He was born in Rock-ford on Feb. 26, 1930, to Walter and Anna (Petkus) Dzierzynski. He married Lucille Funfsinn on May 7, 1955.

He served with the U.S. Army from Sept. 5, 1951, until Aug. 12, 1953, serv-ing in Germany. He owned and operated Valley Elec-tric Co. in Spring Valley, then worked in mainte-nance at Hobb’s before opening the Lawn and Garden Center in LaSalle in 1986. He volunteered at the police and fire depart-ments in Spring Valley.

He was a member of Loyal Order of Ladd Moose Lodge 1528, Spring Valley American Legion, LaSalle VFW and Mendo-ta Elks. He enjoyed fish-ing and the outdoors and loved spending time on his family’s land. He and his wife enjoyed bowl-ing and square dancing together.

He is survived by his wife, Lucille; two daugh-ters, Linda (James) Mill-er of Prescott Valley,

Ariz., and Sheri Lechner of Ladd; two sons, Duane (Michelle)Dzierzynski of Cedar Point and Anton Dzierzynski of Hennepin; 13 grandchildren, Jeremy, Michael, Nathan (with the U.S. Army), Mikali, Caleb, Madelyn, Breann, Blake, Drew, McKenzie, Carly, Jordan and Amanda (with the U.S. Air Force); two great-grandchildren, Devin and Alora; two sis-ters, Ann and Patricia; and five brothers, Walter, Harold, Robert, LeRoy and Larry.

He was preceded in death by one son, Daryl, and two sisters, Alice and Rosanna.

Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 30, in Faith Assem-bly of God Church in Peru with the Rev. Steve Adam-son and the Rev. Paul Meismer officiating.

Visitation was held from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29, in the Hurst Funeral Home in LaSalle with a prayer by the Rev. Steve Adamson at 7:30 p.m. Additional visitation was held from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 30, in the church.

A luncheon followed the services in the church and graveside services were held after in Valley Memo-rial Park in Spring Valley with full military services.

Pallbearers were his grandsons.

Online condolenc-es may be viewed and remembrances shared at www.hurstfuneralhomes.com.

Dzierzynski

Boers

Breckenridge

• • •

Visit us online at www.putnamcountyrecord.com

6 Perspective


The Editorial Page

Sam R FisherPublisher

Terri SimonEditor

From the editor’s desk

I hope each and every one of you had a wonder-ful Christmas, filled with many memory-making moments — enough to last until next Christmas.

I found myself traveling from home to go get my mom early Christmas morning to bring her to my house to help celebrate the special day ... With a Christmas CD playing in my car, I only passed one other vehicle on the roadway during the 20-mile drive. Rather than a lonesome jaunt, though, the serene countryside seemed to speak loudly of Christmas, as I made my way into town. It gave me a good share of time to think, reflect and focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

I pictured small children waking up and scurrying to see what Santa had left for them. I remembered my own childhood Christmas moments of many, many years ago. I thought about families arriving at the homes of their loved ones — having the oppor-tunity to see faces they don’t get to see very often. I could almost smell my dear grandmother’s extra pie crust sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar baking in the oven for a special Christmas morning treat, and I quickly remembered how we would fight over who would get the last piece.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is ... I hope you had the opportunity to reflect during this year’s Christmas celebrations — knowing full well that someday, you and those you love may remem-ber Christmas 2014 with the same heartfelt recollec-tions.

•••With Christmas 2014 just a memory now, we

approach 2015 with much anticipation — not just personally, but also as your hometown newspaper. I’d like to say it’s such a pleasure to be a part of your lives. We at the Putnam County Record take you and your newspaper very seriously, and we work hard to give you a product of which you, too, can be proud.

Throughout the past two years (yes, it’s been that long), I have to tell you I’ve been so impressed with the people I’ve met and grown to enjoy from Putnam County. The majority of folks have been so kind, so complimentary, so eager to help. That speaks worlds about you, our readers.

As we approach 2015, my promise to you is to continue to not just provide you with a good news-paper, filled with timely news and stories about the people, places and things that make Putnam County special, but to also get your input about what you’d like to see in your newspaper. Already, we have some new and exciting special ideas planned for 2015, but I still need your help ...

My door is always open, and I appreciate all your suggestions, comments, ideas and even constructive criticism. Without you — our readers, we don’t have a newspaper, and your ideas are integral to its suc-cess. Please know we will also be happy to publish the photos you take of your special events, as well as your press releases about upcoming happening. I can be reached at [email protected] or give me a call at 815-875-4461, ext. 6330. I look forward to hearing from you.

•••So are you making any New Year resolutions for

2015? I could use the rest of this newspaper page to tell you all the things I’d like to change, improve, work on ... well, you get the idea. Instead, though, I’m going to keep it easy ...

First and foremost, I want to live each day to it’s fullest. Equally important, I just want to focus on being kind. I already consider myself to be a kind person, but like everything, there’s always room for improvement. Living each day to its fullest and being kind ... I think everything else falls into place, if I master those two elements.

How about you?•••

As we move into 2015, I just want to wish you a year filled with good health, happiness and kind-ness. OK ... wealth wouldn’t hurt either, but in the long run, if we have our health, we have everything. Happy New Year, my friends. And remember ... you are important to me and the Putnam County Record.

Putnam County Record Editor Terri Simon can be reached at [email protected].

Terri Simon

Heartland HeroesTo the Editor,There are heroes among us, and

most of the time we don’t even know!

The blanket of freedom under which we live was woven by our Veterans. This year as we cele-brate and honor our veterans at Christmas, we do so by following

the example of leadership we have been shown by our comrade Luis Gonzales. Luis has been coming out to Heartland for over 20 years to help recognize our veterans, and with his recent passing, the torch has been passed on to fellow Amer-ican Legion members. This year as we had our veterans’ Christmas Coffee, we also honored Luis for his devotion. He was always kind,

helpful and always brought good cheer and tiding to all the veter-ans here at Heartland as well as throughout our community. Luis will forever be remembered and a Heartland Hero.

Thank you for your service for God and country.

Mary F. Chambers, Heartland Health Care Center

Henry

Letter EditorTOTHE

Lynn AcunciusTown: Granville.

Occupation: Custodian with Put-nam County High School.

Family: Brother, sister-in-law, nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.

Pets: None.

What is the last book you read: “Sum It Up” by Pat Summit.

What is the last song you heard: I wouldn’t know because I don’t lis-ten to the radio.

What is the last TV show you saw: “The Bold and Beautiful.”

If someone stranded you on a

deserted island and you could have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be: Spaghetti.

If someone stranded you on a deserted island and you could take only one thing with you, what would it be: Family.

If someone gave you a million dollars what would you do with it: I’d give it to family, my nieces and

nephews, and then give some to charity.

What are your favorite area restaurants: Ali’s and Subway.

What do you like about your town: It is very friendly.

Would you change anything about the town you live in: Nothing. It’s small and nice.

First Person

Faulty first impressionsYou know that girl you sat next

to in math class? The one you just knew was awful? The one you were positive was a priss because she was so cute but would never lower herself to speak to you? Then one day you discovered your mutual love for outdoor walks, everything Harry Potter and “Hunger Games,” and “Dancing with the Stars” on Monday nights and realized she was so sweet and down to earth. And to think you really had no idea about her at all …

Half the time I look at the people around me and wonder how much I really know about them. Every pair of eyes has a story behind them, something that sets them apart and explains why I am gaz-ing quizzically into them at the moment.

I, personally, am very shy and reserved, only sharing my real self with those I am very close with. In fact, I can name on one hand the number of people who really know my interests, quirks and pit-falls. But there are also those who enjoy connecting with strangers and sharing all about themselves, whether the listener wants to hear about them or not. For instance, to people at school and even many others, I am just a quiet, smiley (or stuck up!) science major in college, but in reality, that is only a glimpse of Danae Ross. So, just for fun, I thought I’d paint everyone’s picture of me just a lit-tle bit more.

After taking off my standard school/church/work mask, I let out a sigh and walk into my room, cov-ered with a myriad of drawings and paintings dotting my walls. Cro-cheted and sewn scarves, coasters, pillows and other various pieces take their place among my belong-

ings. Strewn across my floor is a set of ink pens, watercolors and color-ful card stock ready to be designed into some kind of greeting card or sketched into my journaling Bible that splays open on my bed stand. My laptop sits open on my Hoosier cabinet desk with the cursor flash-ing at the end of my last thought while writing some piece for myself or the newspaper. And there is also a good chance that a faint aroma wafts in from the kitchen as my latest idea or inspiration bakes in the oven.

Those are only surface elements, though, details that could be dis-covered from afar. After some fur-ther detective work someone might inspect some old pictures that depict me in glasses, though I don’t wear them now, and I also don’t wear contacts. That’s a God thing, a miracle, I suppose. If they kept tabs on me they might discover the more trivial things like how I prefer chocolate over candy, how I like eating out of bowls rather than off plates, how I dislike sleepovers, how I LOVE Christmas music and audio books, how I think sweet pickles are way better than dill, how I despise slow eaters (maybe because I’m envious? And impa-tient …), how I detest scary movies.

Then they might find my journal, opening to a page that screams a different song than that of the Danae who walks into school every day. Anxious, guilty and depressed thoughts spew across the lines:

My indecision with my major, my loneliness and regret about never giving him a chance, my disgust toward my body and eating disor-der, my roller coaster of emotions, and my determination to be a better and more faithful person tomorrow. But when will tomorrow finally arrive? Who is this person? What goes on behind that big smile that greets everyone at school and work?

I suppose my point is that “first impressions” are utterly unreli-able. If I were to describe myself I might suggest kind, hardworking, insecure, shy, creative, introverted, easily broken, independent, impa-tient, indecisive, driven … but what would others report after a first encounter? To some people I might meet those characteristics, but to others I might appear arrogant or cold because I am not outgoing, put-together because I do well in school, carefree because of my good home, etc.

I will be the first to admit I am horribly bad at making accurate judgments about people upon first meeting them. I lack confidence in myself and don’t often reach out to people, creating blank spots and sometimes false conclusions about them and their lives. But I am a work in progress, and I refuse to be held back by my very own self.

I want to get to know people, to figure out what they like and what their goals are, to hear their crazy stories and revel at their adven-tures, and to laugh about our inse-curities and whims. Because who knows, that stranger could become my very best friend.

Danae Ross is a sophomore at Illinois Valley Community College. She can be reached at [email protected].

Danae Ross

COMMENTARY

7 Sports


SportsRough times

downstateLady Panthers

go 1 for 3 in Charleston


CHARLESTON — Despite a good first round showing, the Putnam County Lady Panthers returned empty-handed from the Charleston Hol-iday Tournament adding a win and two losses to the season total.

Put. Co. 55, Urbana 24The girls struggled a lit-

tle bit in the first quar-ter of their game against Urbana, falling behind 11-10 at the end of the period.

From the buzzer to start the second quarter, the Lady Panthers never looked back, allowing Urbana one basket and racking up 15 points to end the first half 25-13. During the second half, Urbana tried to get the game back under con-trol, but were unable to mount any offense as PC put it away 55-24.

PC’s Allison Voss led all scorers with 22 points, followed by Tori Smoode with 14. Kiara Moses led the Urbana Tigers with eight points.

Charleston 64, PC 39PC next faced off

against the hosting Charleston Lady Trojans in what quickly became a one-sided contest. The Trojans held PC to only seven points in the first quarter while putting 19 on the boards.

Although the Panthers tried to rally, they were unable to keep pace with the Trojan offense, spear-headed by junior Morgan Sherwood who tallied 20 points to take PC to a 64-39 loss. Sherwood led all scorers with 20 points. Voss contributed 14 points for PC.

Eisenhower 44, PC 41Looking for payback,

PC took the court against the Decatur Eisenhow-er Lady Panthers in the third round. PC got off to a rocky start with the Eisenhower team keep-ing Allison Voss under control and leading the game 25-13 at the half. PC’s Annie Miller explod-ed out of the chute in the third period, dump-ing in four three-pointers as she rallied her team back into the game but it turned out to be too little, too late with Deca-tur Eisenhower defeating Putnam County 44-41.

The Lady Panthers fall to 13-4 and will recharge their batteries for Jan. 8 when they host Mar-quette.

Above, Nick DiazDeLeon (21) and Christian Har-ris (11) leap for a live ball against three Sere-na defenders on Dec. 26 in the Marseilles Holiday Tournament. Left, Chris-tian Harris (11) guards Serena’s Brenden Fra-zen (23). Putnam County beat Serena and Gard-ner-South Wilmington to advance to the semifi-nals on Dec. 29. Tourney finals were held Dec. 30.

PCR photos/Dixie Schroeder

PC wins twice at Marseilles Holiday TournamentBy Ken Schroeder

[email protected]

MARSEILLES — The fourth-ranked Putnam County Panthers boys’ basketball team lived up to their hype during the first two brackets of the Marseilles Holiday Tour-nament, picking up two wins to advance to the semi-finals bracket.

PC 45, Serena 40The first Panther

match-up on Dec. 26 was supposed to be an easy win, but unseeded Ser-ena saw that differently as the two teams played head-to-head during the first half, entering the midpoint at 20-20. The Huskers broke out of the gate quickly in the third quarter racking up 13 points, led by Trevor Wehner who scored eight in the quarter to lead 33-30 into the final peri-od. PC roared back in the fourth quarter powered by Austin Biagini and Alec Veverka, both of whom scored half their total or more at the bonus line during the last minutes and brought the team to a 45-40 finisher over the Huskers. Serena’s Weh-ner led all scorers with 19 points. Biagini and Michael Miller chipped in 12 each for the Panthers.

PC 65, G-S W 45Putnam Coun-

ty advanced to face the fifth-seeded Gard-ner-South Wilmington Panthers on Dec. 27 in what started out as a very evenly matched game. The first quarter saw Put-nam County toss up 13 points on the board, just under the GSW pace of 15 points. PC came back in the second quarter to lead 31-29 off of dual three-pointers from Biag-ini and Miller and four bonus shots from Nick DiazDeLeon.

The third quarter for Putnam County was a taste of what they usual-ly dish out as GSW sty-mied the PC team com-pletely, allowing a single basket from Veverka as the GSW players scored 10 of their own, end-ing the third quarter at 39-33. PC revived in the fourth with Miller and Veverka manhandling the ball and making up for lost ground, bringing the score to a 55-55 tie at the end of the regular time. Overtime belonged solely to Putnam County with PC tallying 10 points while holding GSW score-less for a 65-55 final.

GSW sophomore Kyle Robison led all scorers with a phenomenal 32 points. Miller led for PC, scoring five three-point-ers for a final score of 15. DiazDeLeon put up 13 while Veverka and Biagini each posted 12 points.

The Putnam Coun-ty Panthers advanced to semi-finals where they are scheduled to play the top-seeded Reed-Custer Comets at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 29 with tournament finals on Dec. 30.

8 Sports

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Garrett William OssolaHometown: Granville.Family: Dad, Dave; Mom, Denise; sister, Allison.Sports: Baseball.Favorite sport and why: Baseball, because that’s the

sport I grew up with and I love the competition.Favorite food and where to get it: Barbecue wings

from the Clover Club.Likes: Baseball, listening to music, hanging with

friends.Dislikes: Negative people.Person with the greatest influence on my athletic

career and why: My dad, because he introduced me to baseball and has been by my side cheering me on since I was three years old.

Person with the greatest influence on my life and why: My mom, because she is very strong willed and can

take on the world.If stranded on a deserted island I would have to have

my: Fishing pole, phone and music.The last song I listened to: “Technicians” by Tech

N9ne.People would be surprised to know: I’ve never ridden

on a roller coaster.I stay home to watch: The Bears.When I need luck for the big game: I put on my right

sock and right cleat first.The funniest person I’ve ever met and why: My uncle

Doug, because he has a great sense of humor and is just a funny guy.

Most unforgettable moment: Being part of the state runner-up team in 2013.

What I would like to do in life: Be an operating engi-neer and work for J.W. Ossola Construction Co.

Senior Spotlight

PCR photo/Dixie SchroederPutnam County’s Garrett Ossola said his mom has had the greatest influence on his life.

PCR photo/Dixie Schroeder

PC beats SerenaPutnam County Panther Alec Veverka (25) leaps up for a two point basket during the first game of the Mar-seilles Holiday Tournament on Dec. 26 against Serena.

9

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10 Life

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Community

PCR photo/Dixie Schroeder

PCHS Ag Issues team practices for alumniPutnam County High School (PCHS) Ag Issues team members Matt Conerton (from left), Nick Bruch, Alex Camp-bell, Brian Schrowang and Michael Glenn present their 2014-15 Ag Issues presentation topic “Fracking, Do The Ends Justify the Means?” to the PCHS FFA alumni on Dec. 17. The students and alumni then enjoyed dinner after the presentation. The PCHS FFA is sponsored by John Heiser.

Robotics club to meetHENRY — The Univer-

sity of Illinois Extension’s Marshall-Putnam 4-H Robotics club will meet from 10 a.m. to approxi-mately 4 p.m. on Jan. 2 at the U of I Extension office.

This work day will give all the members a chance to build, program and test a robot all in one go.

At the November meet-ing, Aaron Lindstrom sug-gested splitting up into two teams and each team could build and program a “sumo-bot” and have a competition at the end of the day. A “Sumo-bot” is a competition between two teams. Each team designs, builds and programs a robot whose purpose is to push the opposing team’s

robot out to the sumo ring (much like a Japanese sumo wrestling match).

There is still room for new members in the club. Any-one interested may contact Aaron Lindstrom at 309-238-0983 or Anne at the Extension office by phone at 309-364-2356, or email at [email protected].

If you need a reasonable accommodation to partic-ipate, have questions or need more information, call University of Illinois Extension, Bureau-LaSal-le-Marshall-Putnam Unit, at 309-364-2356. Exten-sion offices are located in Princeton, Ottawa, Henry and in Oglesby on the Illi-nois Valley Community College campus.

Herb program in HenryHENRY — The public is

invited to attend an educa-tional gardening program presented by University of Illinois Extension master gardener Dave Dunagan.

Herbs will be the topic for this program, which will be at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the University of Illinois Extension – Marshall-Put-nam Extension Office at 509 Front St. in Henry. There will be no fee to par-

ticipate in this program, but registration is required for needed handouts.

If you need a reason-able accommodation to participate, call 309-364-2356. University of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. Exten-sion offices are located in Princeton, Ottawa, Henry and in Oglesby on the IVCC campus.

Library will host ‘The Archeology of Disaster’STANDARD — The Standard

Branch Library, located within the Putnam County Community Center, invites to the public to explore the past through specific markings left in the earth at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 5.

Fire, flood, famine, war, plague, earthquake … All major disasters leave distinctive signatures in the archaeological record. Illinois has seen its share of each. From the New Madrid quakes of 1811-1812

that changed the very course of the Mississippi River to the great flood of 1993, we are adapting today to events that have a history long beyond living memory.

Gregory Vogel, assistant professor, anthropology, at Southern Illinois University, explores the interaction of human culture, both historic and prehistoric, with the environment, human adaptations to environmen-tal changes, and the lessons that this history may hold for Illinoisans today.

“The Archeology of Disaster” is the tenth program in the 2014-2015 Putnam County Public Library Dis-trict humanities program series, “Traces and Byways Discovered.” For more information, call the Stan-dard Branch Library at 815-339-2471. Funding for this program is made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Coun-cil, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Illinois General Assembly.

11 Life

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Thanks NeighborThank you to the Putnam County

communityTo the Editor,

On Saturday, Dec. 20, we distributed Christmas baskets to 137 Putnam County families. Four hundred and fifty-five people were grateful recipients. This number included 183 children and 60 seniors

Without the help of all of you who bought, made and wrapped gifts, donated food, money, blankets and books, and put together, filled, carried and helped deliver baskets, this project would not have been possible. Many groups and individuals contrib-uted to this countywide annual event in one way or another. Special thanks goes to the Granville United Church of Christ for opening Bonucchi Hall to us for our preparation activities, John Shimkus, our man-ager, and Cathy Oliveri from Toys in the Pantry who prepare all year, and to the Putnam County Record for publishing the press releases related to the proj-ect. Lots of thanks go to the students in the Putnam County schools who made bows, bagged candy, col-lected food and provided lots of manpower for us. This is the 27th year the pantry has sponsored this project! Our best wishes to all of our wonderful volun-teers and contributors for a peaceful and joyous 2015.

Gayle Reno and Judy HopkinsPutnam County Food Pantry co-chairs

Granville

Stage 212 is playing your songLASALLE — Stage 212 opens its

2015 season on all the right notes with “They’re Playing Our Song,” the engaging musical love story by Neil Simon, Carole Bayer Sager and Marvin Hamlisch. Vernon, an estab-lished composer, teams up with an offbeat aspiring young female lyr-icist. Professionally, their relation-ship works beautifully, but ultimate-ly leads to conflict on the home front.

Cast as Vernon and Sonia are Dan-iel Haun and Emily Hanck. Featured in the chorus are Megan Zombo-racz Cullinan, Kelly O’Connell John-son and Deb Torri as Sonia’s voices and Derek Addison Buckley, Daniel

Hoeft and Nik Frig as Vernon’s voic-es.

Production staff includes direc-tor Joseph Ennenbach, co-produc-er Scot Smigel, co-producer/stage manager Dixie Schroeder, assistant director Jenny Parks, music direc-tor Samantha Farb, choreographer Deana Brown, set construction coordinator Mike Kreush, set con-struction crew Christopher Martyn and Todd Ditka Samus, prop coordi-nator Joan Eiberger, costume coor-dinators Jill Marti and Dixie Schro-eder, lighting designer Dom Passini, light operator Ken Schroeder, sound operator Andrew Paden, stagehand/assistant stage manager Nick Polo

and stagehand Kyle Foley.“They’re Playing Our Song” will

be presented Jan. 23-25 and Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at Stage 212, 700 First St., LaSalle. Friday and Saturday perfor-mances begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m. Tickets will be available to the general public for $20 each beginning Jan. 12. Box office hours are Monday 4 to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to noon. Tickets may also be purchased online by vis-iting the Stage 212 website at www.stage212.org or reserved over the phone. Call 815-224-3025 for details.

“They’re Playing Our Song” is pro-duced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

ASSE seeks local representativesASSE International Student

Exchange Program is seeking rep-resentatives to work with volun-teer host families and international exchange students in the commu-nity. ASSE provides academic year and semester exchange programs in the United States for high school students from around the world. Stu-dents are 15 to 18 years of age, have passed a series of academic and char-acter requirements, and are awaiting an opportunity to embark on their American adventure. Local represen-tatives also have the opportunity to

support American high school stu-dents in their journals abroad.

Area representatives recruit and screen prospective host families, supervise the exchange students in their community throughout the year and interview American stu-dents who wish to live and learn abroad. Area representatives are compensated based on the number of students they are supervising.

ASSE’s primary goal is to contrib-ute to international understand-ing by enabling students to learn about other languages and cultures

through active participation in family, school and community life. Through sharing their home, host families and communities also gain new knowledge and appreciation of other cultures and languages. ASSE’s representatives are the cornerstone of the organization making all of this possible.

For more information about ASSE or becoming an area representative, call the Midwest regional office at 800-736-1760, email at [email protected] or go to host.asse.com to learn more.

Game Day at Standard Branch Library

STANDARD — The public is invited to the Standard Branch Library for a morning of games, both traditional board games and electronic Wii games, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3. The library is located within the Putnam County Com-munity Center.

Snacks will be served and games such as Life, Monopoly, Sorry!, Chutes & Ladders, checkers, chess and Operation, and Wii games such as bowl-ing, tennis, baseball and more will be available for kids to play.

For more information, call 815-339-2471.

Libraries will host computer classesThe six Putnam County Pub-

lic Libraries are hosting comput-er classes covering topics such as basic computer classes, Internet and email skills, downloading e-books and more. Space is limited to five participants per class and registra-tion is required. To register for a class or for more information, call your local branch library.

In January, the first class is “E-books at Your Library.” Class-es will be held at 10:30 a.m. Jan.

6 at the Putnam (Condit) Library; at 5 p.m. Jan. 6. at the Magnolia Branch Library; at 5 p.m. Jan. 7 at the McNabb Branch Library; at 1 p.m. Jan. 8 at the Standard Branch Library; at 1 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Hen-nepin Library Headquarters and at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Granville Branch Library.

The next class will be “Social Media for Business.” Classes will be held at 5 p.m. Jan. 6 at the Magnolia Branch Library; at 5 p.m. Jan. 7 at

the McNabb Branch Library; at 1 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Hennepin Library Headquarters and at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Granville Branch Library.

To register for the classes, contact your local Putnam County library branch by calling: Hennepin Library at 815-925-7020; Granville Library at 815-339-2038; Magnolia Library at 815-869-3038; McNabb Library at 815-882-2378; Putnam Library at 815-437-2811 and Standard Library at 815-339-2471.

• • •

Items for the Community section can beemailed to [email protected]. Online

forms are also available atwww.putnamcountyrecord.com/forms/.

12 Life

THANK YOU for your generous donations!Ramona Loeffler Jay KomaterUCC Granville Holy Name Society Sacred Heart ChurchKurt & Rhonda Fogle Thomas Hocking & Local Union #51IBEWRon & Peggy Bluemer McNabb United Methodist ChurchSandy Tarr Women on a MissionMargaret Gonet VH Gonet-Opper Insurance Agency, Inc.North Central Bank Immanuel Lutheran Church, Peru

Brooks & Mary Rose Whitney

IN MEMORY OFDiane Moreno- Richard Hebel & Michelle SchmidtTony Day- James & Gladys KingShirley Barnes Crews- Charles & Barbara Doyle, Norma &Bill HrovatGeorge Welch-Norma & Bill HrovatRobert & Jerry Young-Jennie YoungFrancis & Marie Veronda, Delphina Erb- The Veronda FamilyBill Tonarelli-Dorothy TonarelliJoy Reno-Harold & Luann HaywardHelen Haar- PC Foods, Gene & Vicki Gensini

Contact us:Address: 128 First St., Box 208,

Standard, IL 61363Phone: 815-339-2711 or

800-757-4579website: www.pcaservices.org

Fax: 815-339-6071e-mail: [email protected]

Lending ClosetThank you to all of the people who have helped stockour lending closet! We have MANY items ready to

lend out free of charge to any age.Call 815-339-2711 to learn more.

THANK YOU!

PCCC would like to thank ourcommunity, volunteers and

anyone who donated to the Centerin 2014. Without you, the thingswe do would not be possible. Weare looking forward to a great

2015!

Just a reminder…

PCCC will close if PutnamCounty 535 Schools are closed

due to inclement weather.Please listen to your local

radio stations for closings andcancellations.

Tuesday

6th-12:30 WinterPictionary

13th- 10-11 A.M.Blood PressureScreening

13th- 12:30 Card Party

20th- 12:30 Card Party

27th- 11:30 JanuaryBirthdays/Anniversaries Party

Thursday

1st- Closed. HappyNew Year!

8th- 12:30 MusicTherapy w/Michelle

15th- 12:30 Fun w/Robin

22nd- 12:30 Bingow/ Luann

29th- 12:30 Bunco

Friday

9th- PCCCBoard Meeting

PCCC January 2015 Calendar

Drawing Winners for December

$50 – Tracie Haage$25 – Jon Clausen$10 – Toni Sabotta

Congratulations winners! We sincerelyappreciate everyone’s support!

Healthcare fraud can happen toanyone. If you suspect it has

happened to you or someone youlove, you can do something about

it.

The Illinois Senior Medicare PatrolProgram (SMP) helps seniorsPROTECT, DETECT and REPORT

Medicare & Medicaid fraud, waste& abuse.

Call SMP at 1-800-888-4466 toreport healthcare fraud.

Wednesday

28th- Cards atHennepin Pool


Illinois awarded $3 million to improve health careIllinois will receive up to

$3,000,000 to design health care payment and service delivery mod-els that will improve health care quality and lower costs, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia M. Burwell announced in a press release.

Nationwide, 28 states, three terri-tories and the District of Columbia will receive more than $665 mil-lion in Affordable Care Act fund-ing to design and test health care payment and service delivery mod-els that will improve health care quality and lower costs. Together with awards released in early 2013, more than half of states (34 states and 3 territories and the District of Columbia), representing nearly two thirds of the population, are par-ticipating in comprehensive state-based innovation in health system transformation.

“We are committed to partnering with Illinois to advance the goals we all share: Better care, smarter spending, and ultimately, healthier people,” said Burwell. “We’re see-ing states do some very innovative things when it comes to improving the ways we deliver care, pay pro-viders and distribute information. These funds will support states in integrating and coordinating the many elements of health care – including Medicaid, Medicare, public health and private health care delivery systems – to the ben-efit of patients, businesses and tax-payers alike.”

State Innovation Model funds will support states in planning or imple-menting a customized, fully-devel-oped proposal capable of creating statewide health transformation. Example initiatives include:

• Improving primary care through

patient-centered medical homes, building upon current Accountable Care Organization models or inte-grating primary care and behavioral health services.

• Providing technical assistance and data to health care provid-ers and payers that are working to advance models of integrated, team-based care, or transition to value-based payment models.

• Creating unified quality mea-sure score cards that health care payers and providers can use to align quality improvement and value based payment methodolo-gies.

• Expanding the adoption of health information technology to improve patient care.

• Fostering partnerships between public, behavioral and primary health care providers.

• Strengthening the health care workforce through educational programs, inter-professional train-ing, primary care residencies and community health worker training.

The aforementioned awards include both states that are design-ing plans and strategies for state-wide innovation and states that are taking the next step from designing to testing and implementing com-prehensive statewide health trans-formation plans.

Nearly $43 million in State Inno-vation Model Design Awards will support 17 states, including Illinois, three territories, and the District of Columbia to create and refine pro-posals for comprehensive health care transformation.

More than $622 million in State Innovation Model Test Awards will support 11 states – Colorado, Con-necticut, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Rhode

Island, Tennessee and Washington – in implementing their State Health Care Innovation Plans. These states join six previous Round 1 Model Test awardees: Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and Vermont.

States will engage a broad group of stakeholders including health care providers and systems, long-term service and support providers, commercial payers, state hospital and medical associations, tribal communities and consumer advo-cacy organizations. Transformation efforts supported by this initiative must improve health, improve care and lower costs for Medicare, Med-icaid, and Children’s Health Insur-ance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries. In addition, CMS will identify best practices among state-led transfor-mations that are potentially scal-able to all states.

The State Innovation Models ini-tiative is one part of an overall effort to help lower costs and improve care through the Affordable Care Act. Initiatives like Accountable Care Organizations, the Partnership for Patients and others have helped reduce hospital re-admissions in Medicare by nearly 8 percent between 2007 and 2013 – translat-ing into 150,000 fewer re-admis-sions – and quality improvements have resulted in saving 50,000 lives and $12 billion in health spending from 2010 to 2013, according to preliminary estimates.

For more information on the awards announced, go to: http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/State-Innovations/.

To learn more about other inno-vative models being tested by the CMS Innovation Center, please visit: innovation.cms.gov.

MenusPutnam County Community CenterJan. 5 – Chicken strips, mashed potatoes with gravy,

green beans, peaches, roll.Jan. 6 – Burger on bun, baked beans, coleslaw,

applesauce, dessert.Jan. 7 – Smoked sausage, fried potatoes, carrots,

bread, orange.Jan. 8 – Meatloaf, Au gratin potatoes, corn, rolls and

butter, mixed fruit, dessert.Jan. 9 – Meatloaf, Au gratin potatoes, corn, rolls and

butter, mixed fruit, dessert.Suggested donation per meal is $5. Call 815-

339-2711 to make reservations at least 24 hours in advance.

Keep your New Year’s weight loss resolution

(StatePoint) New Year’s resolutions are easier to make than to keep, espe-cially when it comes to dieting. While life can often seem at odds with your health and fitness goals, there are plenty of ways to avoid common pitfalls this New Year and stay on the weight loss track.

• Snack and drink smart: When you’re one-the-go, easy pro-tein-packed snacks will help you stay on track. Try beef jerky, low-fat string cheese, or 100 calorie packs of almonds. Fiber-rich whole-grains, fruits and vegetables can also help keep hunger at bay.

Calories from drinks add up fast. Stick with dry wines, as they often have fewer calories than

sweeter varieties. Light beers, with approximate-ly 100 calories for every 12 ounce serving, are also a good choice. If you prefer cocktails, use calorie-free mixers, such as seltzer with 1.5 oz. of spirits.

• Make it easy: Diet-ing should be easy. Most people often complain they fail at diets because they need to constantly count calories, or weigh and measure foods.

Look for programs that help you stick to your goals by offering conve-nience and support. For example, Nutrisystem helps with the hard part — the counting, weigh-ing and measuring — by offering pre-portioned

Weight Page 13

13 Life/class

ClassifiedsIN THE CIRCUITCOURT 1OF THETENTH JUDICIAL

CIRCUITPUTNAM COUNTY,

ILLINOISESTATE OF )WILLIAM EDWARD)FOX, )

deceased. )Case No. 14-P-9

CLAIMS NOTICENotice is given of

the death of WILLIAMEDWARD FOX,deceased, 1015 O’ConorAvenue, LaSalle, LaSalleCounty, Illinois. Lettersof Office were issuedon December 11, 2014,to Gerald Lee Fox, POBox 648, DePue, Illinois61322, whose attorneyis Ryan J. Anderson, 611Second Street, P.O. Box174, Henry, IL 61537.

Claims against theEstate may be filedin the Office of theClerk of said Court atthe Putnam CountyCourthouse, 120 N.Fourth Street, PO Box207, Hennepin, Illinois61327 on or before June24, 2015, or, if mailingor delivery of a noticefrom the representativeis required by 755 ILCS5/18-3, the date stated inthat notice. Any claimnot filed on or beforesaid date is barred.Copies of a claim filedwith the Clerk must bemailed or delivered bythe claimant to the rep-resentative within 10days after it has beenfiled and proof of suchmailing must be filedwith the Court.

Dated: December 18,2014.

Gerald Lee FoxIndependent Executor

of the Estate ofWilliam Edward Fox,

deceasedRyan J. AndersonAttorney for theExecutor611 Second Street,PO Box 174Henry, IL 61537(309)364-2354Published in the PutnamCounty Record Dec. 24,31 and Jan. 7, 2014.

CIRCUIT COURTOF THE TENTH

JUDICIAL CIRCUITPUTNAM COUNTY,

ILLINOISESTATE OF )

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, TENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, PUTNAM COUNTY, ILLINOISCAUSE NO. 14-TX-7: TO THE FOLLOWING NAMED PERSONS (AND IF DECEASED,TO THEIR UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DEVISEES), AND TO THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,

AND TO ALL INTERESTED DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES THEREOF, INCLUDINGAMONG OTHERS PUTNAM COUNTY CLERK , PUTNAM COUNTY TREASURER , PUTNAMCOUNTY STATES ATTORNEY , ILLINOIS DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY, ILLINOIS

ATTORNEY GENERAL, ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, STATE OF ILLINOISDEPT OF HEALTHCARE & FAMILY SERVICES (PUBLIC AID) GENERAL COUNSEL,

LAKE THUNDERBIRD ASSOCIATION C/O JEFFREY SCOTT SELL, LAKE THUNDERBIRDASSOCIATION, AND TO OCCUPANTS, UNKNOWN OWNERS

AND PARTIES INTERESTED IN THE PARCELS HEREINAFTER NAMEDParcel Number Owners/Parties Interested Cert Number Street Or Common Address01-00-043-030 ROADHOUSE, KEVIN 2011-0000101-00-043-030 ROADHOUSE, KEVIN 2011-0000103-00-053-010 MORTIMER, NANCY 2011-00034 37 CATALINA DR03-00-053-020 MORTIMER, NANCY 2011-00035 35 CATALINA DR03-00-054-240 STEVEN, LAWRENCE 2011-00037 14 ELMWOOD DR03-00-054-240 PIERCE, WILLIAM H JR 2011-00037 14 ELMWOOD DR03-00-054-240 PIERCE, ROSANNE M 2011-00037 14 ELMWOOD DR03-00-071-200 HALE, ROBERT 2011-00043 8 JUNIPER CT03-00-071-200 HALE, DIANA 2011-00043 8 JUNIPER CT03-00-080-280 OGRODNY, MARK 2011-00046 17 INDIAN HILLS DR03-00-080-280 OGRODNY, VINCENT GREGORY 2011-00046 17 INDIAN HILLS DR03-00-086-290 VACCO, JOHN 2011-00050 30 INDIAN HILLS DR03-00-086-290 VACCO, SANDRA T 2011-00050 30 INDIAN HILLS DR04-00-034-300 BAILEY, KRISTINA M 2011-00056 206 N PEORIA ST04-00-034-300 BAILEY, JEROMY A 2011-00056 206 N PEORIA ST04-00-034-300 COLLECTION PROFESSIONALS, INC 2011-00056 206 N PEORIA ST04-00-034-300 BAILEY, KRISTINA M. ET UX 2011-00056 206 N PEORIA ST

BAILEY, JEROMY A. ET UX04-00-039-220 HOLMSTROM, PATRICK D 2011-00061 211 S CHICAGO ST04-00-039-220 HOLMSTROM, KARLA J 2011-00061 211 S CHICAGO ST04-00-039-220 COLLECTION PROFESSIONALS, INC 2011-00061 211 S CHICAGO ST04-00-039-220 HUDACHKO, DAVID M ET UX 2011-00061 211 S CHICAGO ST04-00-039-230 HOLMSTROM, PATRICK D 2011-00062 211 S CHICAGO ST04-00-039-230 HOLMSTROM, KARA J 2011-00062 211 S CHICAGO ST04-00-039-230 COLLECTION PROFESSIONALS, INC 2011-00062 211 S CHICAGO ST04-00-039-230 HUDACHKO, DAVID M. ET UX 2011-00062 211 S CHICAGO ST

TAKE NOTICE THAT THE ABOVESAID PARCELS WERE SOLD ON NOVEMBER 13, 2012, FORGENERAL TAXES FOR THE YEAR 2011 AND PRIOR YEARS, AND THAT THE PERIOD OF REDEMPTIONFROM SUCH SALE EXPIRES MAY 26, 2015. TAKE FURTHER NOTICE THAT A PETITION FOR ORDERDIRECTING ISSUANCE OF TAX DEEDS HAS BEEN FILED IN THE ABOVESAID CAUSE AS TO THEABOVE-NAMED PARCELS BY PUTNAM COUNTY, AS TRUSTEE, AND THAT ON JUNE 11, 2015 AT11:00 AM, SAID PETITIONER WILL APPLY FOR AN ORDER THAT A TAX DEED ISSUE AS TO EACHABOVESAID PARCEL NOT REDEEMED ON OR BEFORE MAY 26, 2015. /S/ PUTNAM COUNTY ASTRUSTEE, PETITIONER.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE COUNTY CLERK ADDRESS:120 N 4TH STREET, HENNEPIN, IL 61327. TELEPHONE: (815) 925-7129

Published in the Putnam County Record Dec. 17, 24 and 31, 2014.

DELLA A. )MAULFAIR )

Deceased )No. 14-P-20

CLAIM NOTICENotice is given ofthe death of Della A.Maulfair. Letters ofoffice were issued onDecember 11, 2014to Diana Garrett,3030 Greenfield Dr.,Freeport, IL and HaroldMaulfair, 2205 Southeast31st St., Okeechobee,FL as IndependentCo-Executors whoseattorney is Roger C.Bolin of Boyle & Bolin,227 E. Court Street,Hennepin , IL 61327.

Claims against theestate may be filed inthe office of the clerk ofcourt, Putnam CountyCourthouse, Hennepin,Illinois 61327, or withthe representative, orboth, within 6 monthsfrom the date of issu-ance of letters and anyclaim not filed with inthat period is barred.Copies of a claim filedwith the clerk must bemailed or delivered tothe representative andto the attorney within10 days after it has beenfiled.

Dated this 11th day ofDecember, 2014.

Roger C. Bolin of

Boyle & BolinAttorney ForIndependent

Co-Executors227 E. Court StreetHennepin, IL 61327

815-925-7393Published in the PutnamCounty Record Dec. 24,31 and Jan. 7, 2015.

NOTICEThe Putnam

County EmergencyManagement Agency isnow accepting applica-tions for the position ofAssistant Coordinator.

A letter of inter-est and any trainingand/or experiencecan be mailed to BobCofoid, EmergencyM a n a g e m e n tCoordinator, PO Box590, Granville, IL 61326.

All applications willbe considered with pref-erence to those individ-uals who maintain theirresidency in PutnamCounty.

All application mustbe received by January4, 2015.

The County ofPutnam is andEqual EmploymentOpportunity Employer.Published in the PutnamCounty Record Dec. 31,2014

Putnam County, IllinoisIdentification of Recording: Document No.

03-740NOW THEREFORE, unless you file your answer

to the Complaint in the suit or otherwise file yourappearance in the said Court on or before January24, 2015 default may be entered against you at anytime after that day and the judgment entered inaccordance with the prayer of the Complaint.

Dated: December 18, 2014By: /s/Brian A. Peterson

Brian A. PetersonSimpson Peterson250 E. Main St., Suite 402Galesburg, Illinois 61401Telephone: (309) 343-6152Facsimile: (309) 343-5103ARDC NO. 6290446Published in the Putnam County Record Dec. 24,31, 2014 and Jan. 7, 2015.

Mudge-Gibson.A legal description of the real estate sufficient

to identify it with reasonable certainty is as follows:Lots 1 and 2 in First CongregationalChurch of Granville Addition to theVillage of Granville, Illinois, except thecoal underlying the same, together withthe right to mine and remove the samethrough underground passages, situatedin Putnam County, Illinois.

PIN: 02-00-044-010Common address: 211 Silverspoon Avenue,

Granville, Illinois 61326.Identification of the Mortgage sought to be fore-

closed is as follows:Name of Mortgagor: Paula J. Rinaldo f/k/a Paula

Mudge-GibsonName of Mortgagee: North Central BankDates of Mortgages: May 9, 2003Date and Place of Recording: May 9,2003;

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TENTHJUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF ILLINOIS,

PUTNAM COUNTYNORTH CENTRAL BANK, )

Plaintiff, )v. )

PAULA J. RINALDO f/k/a PAULA MUDGE- )GIBSON, an Illinois resident; MARK A. )RINALDO, an Illinois resident; FIRST STATE )BANK, an Illinois banking association; )COLLECTION PROFESSIONALS, INC., an )Illinois corporation; STATE OF ILLINOIS )DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, INTERNAL )REVENUE SERVICE - DEPARTMENT OF )TREASURY, UNKNOWN OWNERS, and )NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS )

Defendants. )Case No.: 14 CH 18

NOTICE OF PENDENCY OFFORECLOSURE ACTION

Notice is hereby give to UNKNOWN OWNERS,NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, and other parties whoclaim some right, title, interest or lien in or to thefollowing described real estate that the above cap-tioned mortgage foreclosure suit is now pending inthe Circuit Court of the Tenth Judicial Circuit ofIllinois, Putnam County.

The names of all Plaintiffs and the case numberare identified above. The Court in which said actionwas brought is identified above. The names of thetitle holder of record is Paula J. Rinaldo f/k/a Paula

999 • Legal Notices999 • Legal Notices999 • Legal Notices999 • Legal Notices 999 • Legal Notices

- 400 -Merchandise

450 • Under $1000

The Putnam CountyRecord reserves the rightto classify correctly, edit,reject or cancel any adver-tisement at any time in ac-cordance with its policy. Allads must be checked forerrors by the advertiser, onthe first day of publication.We will be responsible forthe first incorrect insertion,and its liabilities shall belimited to the price on oneinsertion.CLASSIFIED LINE AD &LEGAL DEADLINES:

• Wednesday Paperdeadline Thursday beforeby 3pm

We Accept

Call [email protected]

General Termsand Policies

* * * * * * * * * * * *HAVE SOMETHINGTO SELL?

Put your ad in for FREE

Items $1,000 or lesscan run FREE for 1time. Limit of 5 lines.Up to 3 items with priceand price totaling under$1,000. 1 ad per house-hold per week.No commercial ads,firearms oranimal sales.

E-mail information to:[email protected]

(include your name, ad-dress & phone number)

No Phone Calls!

- 200 -Employment

228 • Help WantedCLERICAL POSITION

Looking for a full-timeClerical person that isfriendly, outgoing, hasgood people skills, com-puter knowledge. Job willrequire occasional lightlifting up to 40lbs, multi-tasking, and self motiva-tion. Work location isHennepin. Please SendResume to: PO Box 382Hennepin, IL 61327


The office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal warns residents of dangers of improper use

of space heaters and ovens to stay warmLow temperatures prompt fire safety

concernsCHICAGO — With a blast of win-

ter hitting Illinois, the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM) warned the public not to rely on kitchen ovens for heat and to use caution and common sense when using space heaters.

“Fire safety ought to be part of our daily lives. Using space heaters too close to flammable materials, or the oven or stove as ways to heat the home could pose a serious fire haz-ard,” said State Fire Marshal Larry Matkaitis. “We urge residents to use common sense to prevent a trage-dy.”

Brutal Illinois winters often leave residents searching for heat from any available sources. However, fire authorities warn that the use of unsafe alternatives as a heat source

could be risky. According to the National Fire Protection Associa-tion (NFPA), in recent years heat-ing equipment fires have been the second leading cause of home fires nationally (cooking fires remain the leading cause). These incidents occur mostly during the winter, with approximately half of all home heat-ing related fires occurring between December and February annually.

In Illinois last year, 467 fires incidents involving heating equip-ment were reported. Some of the equipment involved in these inci-dents included fireplaces, stoves, space heaters, and heat lamps. Sta-tionary and portable space heat-ers are typically determined to be the cause of one-third of reported home heating fires in the U.S. each year according to NFPA research. OSFM offers the following advice to stay warm and fire-safe:

• All heaters need space. Keep things that can burn, such as paper, bedding, and furniture at least 3 feet away from heating equipment.

• Do not allow children and pets within 3 feet of open fires and space heaters.

• Plug space heaters directly into the wall outlet, not into extension cords.

• Use portable heating equipment that has the label of a recognized testing laboratory.

• Turn space heaters off when you leave a room or go to sleep.

• Have a qualified profession-al install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or cen-tral heating equipment according to the local codes and manufacturer’s instruction.

• Maintain heating equipment, gas fireplaces, and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected annually by a qualified professional.

• Wood-burning fireplaces should always be kept clean to avoid car-bon monoxide poisoning or smoke inhalation.

For more information about fire safety and prevention, visit www.sfm.illinois.gov or www.nfpa.org.

and personalized meal plans designed to fuel individuals with the right amount of calories for how their metabolism burns, as well as satisfy individual taste.

• Eat out, right: Eating out is sometimes unavoid-able. Just be sure to check out a restaurant’s nutri-tion information online before you go, so you can make wise choices.

Make substitutions like salad, with dressing on the side, instead of fries and don’t be afraid to ask if a menu item can be modified. Also, be mindful of portion sizes. Take half your

WeightFrom Page 12

meal home and enjoy it for tomorrow’s lunch.

• Facing the scale: Weight fluctuates through-out the day. Weigh yourself at the same time of day in similar weight clothing to get the most accurate read-ings. Remember though, the number on the scale won’t always reflect your hard work. Focus instead on healthy, positive chang-es and how you feel.

• Aim for 30: Squeeze 30 minutes of activity into your day. Walk during lunch, jump rope during your favorite nightly TV show or turn on music and dance around the house.

Remember, everyone falls off the wagon from time to time, but the New Year is the perfect time to commit to your weight loss goals.

Visiting restrictions at IVCHOGLESBY — Because of widespread influenza

activity, Illinois Valley Community Hospital is restricting patient visitation privileges. Effective immediately, no one age 18 and below will be allowed to visit patients at IVCH and patients will be allowed only two visitors at any one time. IVCH is also requesting that people who are ill with respiratory symptoms not visit the hospital.


Business DirectoryMarketplace

Oxy Green Carpet Cleaning of Central IllinoisMcNabb, Il 61335

(309) 740-4470 • (815) 882-2150

Carpet • Furniture • Hardwoods • Mattresses

COMPLETE CAR AND TRUCK CARE24 HOUR TOWING SERVICE

882-2191 Monday-Saturday882-2250 Evenings & Sundayss

JACK’S GAS& SERVICE

Rt. 89, McNabb, IL • Jack Bima, Owner

TONICA HARDWARE24 Hrs. Service • 815-442-3415

Plumbing • Heating • ElectricalSince 1919

Sieg Tire & uu ee RR aaiirr SShhooppSelling & Repairing all makes of tirres

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CHRISTMAS BASKET THANK YOUThank you to the Putnam County community. OnSaturday, December 20th we distributed Christmasbaskets to 137 Putnam County families. 455 peoplewere grateful recipients. This number included 183

children and 60 seniors. Without the help of all of youwho bought, made and wrapped gifts, donated food,money, blankets and books, and put together, filled,carried and helped deliver baskets this project wouldnot have been possible. Many groups and individualscontributed to this county-wide annual event in oneway or another. Special thanks goes to the GranvilleUnited Church of Christ for opening Bonucchi Hallto us for our preparation activities, John Shimkus, ourmanager, and Cathy Oliveri from Toys in the Pantry

who prepare all year, and to the PC Record forpublishing the press releases related to the project.Lots of thanks go to the students in the PutnamCounty Schools who made bows, bagged candy,collected food and provided lots of manpower

for us. This is the twenty-seventh year thePantry has sponsored this project! Our bestwishes to all of our wonderful volunteers andcontributors for a peaceful and joyous 2015.

Thank you,Gayle RenoJudy Hopkins

Putnam County Food Pantry


Photo contributed

Christmas gift pays IVCH Auxiliary pledgeIllinois Valley Community Hospital Auxiliary fundraisers and sales in the Auxilia-ry-managed IVCH gift shop helped the Auxiliary raise the money needed to pay off the $100,000 pledge it made in 2010 to the fund drive for the new IVCH obstetrics unit. Tommy Hobbs, IVCH chief executive officer, accepted a $12,000 check from Auxilia-ry president Mary Beth Brantner (right) and Lobby Shoppe manager Marsha Roliardi.

‘We really learn by doing’L-P students are putting

their knowledge into classroom redesign


LASALLE — Sometimes, it’s difficult to gauge how much a student actually learns in a class. For students in teacher Marty Makransky’s Illinois Valley Entre-preneurial Opportunities class at LaSal-le-Peru High School’s vocational center, that’s not going to be a problem. One of the three groups in his class will have their knowledge implemented when L-P redesigns the classroom from the ground up. The first step is, of course, agreeing on a design.

“Obviously there’s going to be some disagreements,” Putnam County student Michael Glenn said. “Everyone has to move past their personal disagreements. We learned a lot more about the process. The business world is not a democracy. It’s what the top guy says, goes. For things like this, we’re all in it together so it’s hard to get everyone to agree.”

The students were given a few guide-lines to go by and were cautioned it had to be done on a small budget. But other than that, they were released to make their choices. There was only one abso-lute.

“They were told my desk has to go. I don’t need it,” Makransky said. “It should look more like an office and less like a classroom.”

The students’ goal is to make the cramped classroom into the type of room where ideas flow and can be discussed in a business-type atmosphere. The teams will be graded on their ideas, attention to detail and their ability to present their ideas. In addition, the designs will be pre-

sented to the administration for possible implementation.

“One of the designs will be used as the blueprint. There may be elements from each of the teams, but this room will be redone to fit their proposals,” Makransky said.

Glenn said the experience in the class has had an impact on his future plans.

“My plan later in life is to be an ag busi-ness major, then go into law school and work for intellectual property for an ag company, so the business background is huge for that,” he said. “I like how we’ve been able to get out the classroom and go on tours, especially for a ‘hands-on’ person like me. We really learn by doing.”

PCR photo/Ken SchroederMichael Glenn prepares for his team’s pre-sentation in Marty Makransky’s Illinois Val-ley Entrepreneurial Opportunities class at the area vocational center of LaSalle-Peru High School. The project is the final exam for the class and entails designing a new look for the classroom. The class gives students a close look into how businesses work and grow and what it takes to survive in the business economy.

Rotary makes plans for annual breakfastHENRY — The Henry Rotary Club

is making preparations for the club’s annual fundraising all-you-can-eat breakfast. Pancakes and sausage will be served from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Henry Grade School.

Proceeds from the event are used to support local Henry community proj-ects. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children under 12 years of age. Tickets are available at the door or from mem-bers of the Henry Rotary Club.

Blood drive plannedMAGNOLIA — An American Red Cross blood drive will be held from noon to 5:30

p.m. Jan. 19 at the United Methodist Church in Magnolia. To schedule an appoint-ment, call Lisa Johnson at 815-882-2336. Walk-ins are welcome.

1

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Bringing the past into the present

By Goldie [email protected]

WALNUT — Dave Kepner of Walnut has always had a knack for all things mechanical.

He admits being called a “gear head” when he was in school.

“I was that kid who would rather tear his bike apart than ride the dang thing,” he said.

Kepner started his career in mechanics in 1959, right after high school when he went to work at the John Deere Dealership in Walnut.

With 56 years of experi-ence under his belt, he’s developed a reputation as being a “go-to” guy when a piece of equip-ment isn’t running prop-erly.

Often times, Kepner can be found in his machine shed tinkering around with tools and old

tractors, but lately that time tinkering has pro-duced a unique project that’s completely mod-ernized his 1965 John Deere 4020 tractor.

Kepner has trans-formed his tractor’s die-sel engine into an elec-tronic fuel injection (EFI) system that runs on regu-lar unleaded gasoline.

The modern, technol-ogy touch to his vintage tractor allows it to run pretty much like “a new pick-up truck,” he said.

It’s an idea that has yet to really make it into the agricultural scene, according to Kepner.

“I’ve never heard of anyone who has done this yet,” he said. “But the need is out there to use these old tractors.”

He added that with this conversion, farmers can transform their old die-sel tractors into a better product than what they were before.

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into ones that use regular, unleaded gasoline

Shaw Media Service photo/Goldie CurrieDave Kepner of Walnut stands near his latest mechanics project. Kepner found a way to put an electronic fuel injec-tion (EFI) system on his 1965 John Deere 4020 diesel engine. The new system now allows his old tractor to start just like a brand new pickup truck.

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What sparked the idea?

With a mechanical background, Kepner had the idea for the conver-sion. He said the automo-bile industry had found a way to convert old vehi-cles to EFI systems, and he wanted to incorporate the same idea for his trac-tor.

His first step in com-ing up with the method was calling a company in Memphis, Tenn., who works on conversions for old vehicles. Kepner was able to get in touch with a company engineer who was willing to give direction, via the phone, with the EFI retrofit sys-tem hookup. The engi-neer happened to be a farmer from Mississippi and had a good idea of what Kepner was trying to accomplish.

Kepner said once he was able to get direc-tion from the engineer, the project didn’t take much time to complete. A tad bit of remodeling to parts on the tractor had to be done to incorporate the new system, but the modern touch has barely touched the vintage look of the John Deere 4020 model.

“It’s just awesome what it does (to the tractor),” Kepner said, referring to

the conversion. “It doesn’t smoke. It starts easily, and it’s really like driving a new pickup truck.”

Kepner said the new twist gives his tractor 10 percent more horsepow-er than when it left the dealership, while using 20 percent less fuel.

“It’s just correcting a lot of mistakes made when they were first built,” he said.

Showing off the new conversionKepner took his project

to a corn pickers show this past fall and received a lot attention from fellow farmers interested in his conversion.

Today, he is keeping busy doing the same con-version to four tractors people have requested him to complete.

Kepner said he is more than willing to share his idea with others. He said he doesn’t care who does it; he just thinks it needs to be known that it can be done so farmers can uti-lize the late model diesel tractors.

“The country is just full of them, and they’re just sitting around not being used,” he said, adding there is still a good market for the small tractor for the little projects around the farm.

Shaw Media Service photos/Goldie CurrieKepner explains his work and technique in hooking up an electronic fuel injection (EFI) system on his old diesel engine tractor. According to Kepner this is an idea that has yet to make it into the agricultural scene, but the demand is out there as many farmers have kept their old diesel engine tractors but have yet to find use for them.

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Making the most of your compostURBANA — After the fall,

many homeowners won-der what to do with the leaves that have accumu-lated on the ground.

“Composting can be a beneficial process to man-age yard waste,” said Uni-versity of Illinois Exten-sion horticulture educator Andrew Holsinger. “Proper planning and effort can provide the opportunity to generate organic matter beneficial to the soil.”

Composting is defined as the transformation of raw organic materials into biologically stable humus-like substances suitable for growing plants. “Organic matter improves soil qual-ity in a number of ways including, soil moisture retention, nutrient-hold-ing capacity and nutri-ent cycling,” Holsinger explained.

Nutrient-holding capac-ity is the ability for soil to hold nutrients that would otherwise leach away, and nutrient cycling is basi-cally recycling nutrients that were previously taken up by plants. The cycling of nutrients balances the availability of nutrients from the plant material back into the soil.

What are the keys to success when it comes to composting?

Compost materials are made up of a proportion of carbon to nitrogen in

an organic material. When these materials are com-bined in proper proportion and in combination with air, water and warmth, it creates a proper environ-ment for decomposition.

Decomposition is what is desired when it comes to composting, Holsinger explained.

“Unfortunately, during the winter months, some of these key components may be lacking to achieve the success desired in decomposing your organic waste,” he added.

The key components are:

TemperatureCompost piles should be

covered in the winter. Cov-ering the compost pile in the winter excludes excess rain or snow, which can make the pile too wet. Insu-lating the pile in the winter

has the benefit of reduc-ing cold air, which can decrease microbial activity.

The carbon to nitrogen ratio

There are two main com-ponents of organic waste that are transformed to compost: the green mate-rials (nitrogen) and brown materials (carbon).

Nitrogen is used to build proteins (amino acids). The microorganisms need nitrogen in order to sur-vive. There is a shortage of nitrogen in the soil because everything living wants to consume it and it can be leached away by rain-water. The green materi-als are sources of nitrogen and protein. Usually they consist of fresh green plant materials, including fresh grass clippings and organ-

ic food waste. Never use dog, cat, raw hog manure, or human waste because these can contain poten-tial biohazards that can be harmful to family mem-bers.

Carbon is used for ener-gy by microorganisms. Sources of carbon differ in their chemical structure and some can be challeng-ing for microorganisms to digest. The brown mate-rials are also absorbers of excess moisture. Usually they consist of dried brown plant materials, includ-ing ground-up leaves and straw.

“It is important to have an optimal ratio of carbon to nitrogen which is typical-ly 30:1,” Holsinger pointed out. “If there is too much nitrogen in the mix, the compost pile can become too hot, which may kill the compost microorganism, or it may go anaerobic, resulting in a stinky mess.”

He added that with too little nitrogen in the mix (high C), the compost will not heat up proper-ly, which could result in a longer waiting time for fin-ished compost. This ratio is most important in the breakdown of the compost

materials to feed the micro-organisms the proper diet of carbon and nitrogen.

AirComposting materi-

als are broken down by aerobic organisms, which require air for their surviv-al. In high-temperature sit-uations, it can help reduce odor. The initial moisture content of composting materials tends to be high and can be reduced with aeration. Turning of the compost pile is the most common method for aer-ation. Other methods of aeration include passive aeration with a network of perforated tubes or using an aerated static pile.

WaterWhile moisture is a

requirement for compost-ing, high moisture results in a reduction in the pore spaces for air. Low mois-ture deprives organisms of needed water for metab-olism and inhibits their activity. Ideally, home compost piles should contain 45 to 65 percent moisture. The ideal mois-ture for most materials is 55 percent. You can check your moisture level with a simple squeeze test. Squeeze a handful of com-posting material, force-fully, and check for drips. The compost should feel like a wrung-out sponge.

Make the most of compost· Mix the pile as needed to reduce moisture and

odors.· If the pile is too dry, add water until there is the

feel of a dampened sponge.· Keep meat products out of the pile to reduce

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5

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USDA reports provide some surprises, particularly for cornURBANA — Based on the

worn adage that “big crops get bigger,” analysts gener-ally expected the USDA’s November Crop Produc-tion report to contain larg-er forecasts for the size of the current U.S. corn and soybean harvest. According to a University of Illinois agricultural economist, the soybean production fore-cast was larger, but the corn forecast was smaller than the October forecast.

“The U.S. soybean crop is now forecast at 3.958 billion bushels, 31 million bushels larger than the October forecast,” said Darrel Good. “The U.S. average yield is forecast at 47.5 bushels, 0.4 bush-el larger than the October forecast. Yield forecasts changed by a bushel or two for the majority of states, with smaller forecasts in six of the 29 states. Pro-duction forecasts were not changed for the rest of the world. In the November World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, the USDA increased the forecast of both the domestic crush and exports during the current marketing year so the forecast of year-end-ing stocks remains at 450 million bushels, or 12.4 percent of projected con-sumption. The domes-tic crush should be sup-ported by strong soybean

meal demand, particularly in the export market, and by favorable crush mar-gins. The pace of soybean export sales and shipments also supports the larger export forecast. The mar-keting-year average price is still forecast in a range of $9 to $11. Current spot prices in the eastern Corn Belt are near the midpoint of that range,” Good said.

Good said the U.S. corn crop is projected at 14.407 billion bushels, 68 million bushels smaller than the October forecast. The U.S. average yield is forecast at 173.4 bushels, 0.8 bushel below the October fore-cast. The yield forecasts declined by five bushels in Minnesota, three bushels in Kansas and two bushels in Iowa. “The change in the production forecast is rel-atively small, but is in the opposite direction of the expected change,” Good said. He added that the projection of both corn and total coarse grain produc-tion in the rest of the world was increased slightly, with declines in the projections of Chinese and Argenti-na coarse grain produc-tion more than offset by increases for the European Union and Mexico.

The USDA forecast of marketing-year consump-tion of corn for ethanol production was increased by 25 million bushels,

but the forecast of corn for other food and indus-trial uses was reduced by 20 million bushels. Mar-keting-year consumption is forecast at 13.66 billion bushels, which would leave year-ending stocks at 2.008 billion bushels or 14.7 percent of projected consumption. The pro-jection of marketing-year exports remains at 1.75 bil-lion bushels, but as Good pointed out last week, the current pace of both export sales and shipments are trailing the pace needed to reach that projection.

“In today’s WASDE report, the USDA lowered the forecast of current marketing-year exports from both Argentina and Brazil by a total of 59 mil-lion bushels, but increased the export projection for the Ukraine by 20 million bushels and lowered the forecast of Chinese imports by 20 million bushels,” Good said. “The forecast of the marketing-year average farm price was projected in a range of $3.20 to $3.80, 10 cents higher than the Octo-ber forecast. Current spot-cash prices in the eastern Corn Belt are near the low end of that range.”

The final USDA produc-tion estimates for corn and soybeans will be released in January while projec-tions of marketing-year consumption, ending

stocks, and average price will be updated month-ly through the marketing year. In addition to the final yield estimates, there will be some interest in the final estimates of harvested acreage.

Good said that the differ-ence between the current National Agricultural Sta-tistics Service (NASS) esti-mates of planted acreage of corn and soybeans and planted acreage reported by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) last month are historically large.

“NASS estimates are much larger than the FSA estimates, particularly for corn,” Good said. “The FSA will release an updated report of planted and pre-vented acreage on Nov. 13. If the gap between the two estimates remains large, there will be some expec-tation that the final NASS acreage estimates to be released in January (based

on the December Agricul-tural Survey) will be smaller than the current estimates.

“If current production and consumption forecasts are actually verified, the big story this year will be that extremely large corn and soybean crops resulted in less than burdensome year-ending stocks,” Good said. “The modest level of stocks relative to the con-sumption base opens the door for a tighter supply and consumption balance for the 2015-16 marketing year, particularly for corn. If consumption next year remains near the projected level for this year, a corn crop less than 13.66 billion bushels would result in a drawdown in stocks,” he said. With a national aver-age yield at the trend value of 163 bushels per acre, harvested acreage would have to increase by about 700,000 acres to produce a crop greater than 13.66 bil-

lion bushels. Similarly, with acreage at this year’s level, the national average yield would have to be at 164.4 bushels to produce a crop of 13.66 billion bushels.

The soybean picture is a little different. “If soy-bean consumption next year continues at the level projected for this year, a crop less than 3.615 billion bushels would result in a drawdown in year-end-ing stocks,” Good said. “A trend yield of 44.3 bush-els per acre would require harvested acreage of only 81.6 million to produce a crop of 3.615 billion bush-els. That is 1.8 million fewer acres than expected to be harvested this year.

“While the large harvest this year will keep prices at relatively low levels, par-ticularly for corn, the odds now favor prices that will be profitable for both corn and soybean producers in 2015-16,” Good said.

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Tips for planning next year’s vegetable gardenURBANA — It’s always

a good idea to have a plan before you start digging up your yard, said a Uni-versity of Illinois horti-culture educator.

“Sometimes a location seems like the perfect site for a garden until you start digging and find the soil is like concrete,” said Chris Enroth. “Or you start growing and real-ize the water supply is way out of reach. Now you’re hauling buckets of water.”

Enroth suggested four basic items that will help in having a more success-ful garden next season.

SoilA very common item

that is overlooked by many beginner and expe-rienced gardeners alike is soil health and fertili-ty, he said. Most home-

owners rely solely on store-bought fertilizers for their plants’ nutrition with little worry about soil health or the actual nutrient composition of their soil.

So how do we give our soil a checkup?

“If you are serious about growing good veg-etables, you need to know the nutrient composition and basic properties of your soil,” Enroth said. “A soil test is a way to find that out. Collect samples of soil from your pro-posed gardening sites, mix them together and bag them up to be sent to a nearby soil testing lab-oratory. If you would like to compare two different garden locations, in the same manner take sam-ples from each location, but do not mix one with the other. Therefore, you can compare the results

when you get them back from the lab. Also make sure to specify to the soil lab you are a home vege-table gardener and would like the results tailored to your needs.”

SunMost of the summer

vegetables we know and love to eat require at least six hours of sunlight per day. That means the gar-den needs a full-sun loca-tion. “Plants feed them-selves through photo-synthesis, and each plant leaf is a food factory,” Enroth said. “By restrict-ing the amount of light, you lessen the amount of sugars the plant can make for itself, and it will be unable to perform to its optimum capabilities.

“Provided you meet the full-sun minimum of six hours, afternoon shade

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can be beneficial. Shade late in the day offers a good spot to work during hot summer afternoons, and some of your veggies do like a bit of respite from the sun during the hottest part of the day, especially for gardeners in southern Illinois,” he added.

Water SupplyHauling water in 90

plus degree weather is hard work. Therefore, you should site your garden so that you don’t have to. Don’t make the mistakes many other gardeners have made. Many veg-etable gardeners think they can supplement with buckets of water, but unless you have a bucket brigade, Enroth said most plants are only watered enough to barely keep them alive.

“Ideally you want some form of permanent irri-gation system. I highly recommend some type

of drip or soaker hose system. Drip irrigation works great to minimize water lost to evaporation and applies water very slowly so runoff does not occur. Plus, drip irri-gation takes a lot of the guesswork out of water-ing,” Enroth said.

“If possible, investigate harvested water options. By using water harvested in an above- or below-ground cistern, you can save yourself some back-ache and lower your own potable water usage. Rain barrels are a great notion, but you would need a lot of water storage for a large vegetable garden,” he said.

ToolsGardening can be a lot

like cooking; they both require tools, and com-panies are out there to sell all kinds of gadgets. “Don’t get suckered by gimmicks,” Enroth warned.

Tools popular in the garden include:

• A sharp shovel — A sharp blade on the end of your shovel is critical to easy digging. Once you have your blade sharp-ened, you will keep up the habit every year.

• A pair of pruners — “When I’m outside gar-dening, my pruners are always in a sheath attached to my belt, notably because I always seem to tear my plants apart when picking their fruit or leaves. Pruners account for a clean cut,” Enroth said.

• A collinear hoe — This is used for cultivating weeds or slicing them off at the soil line. A collin-ear hoe is not a digging hoe; it is a hoe that can be used while stand-ing upright and using a sweeping motion to cul-tivate small weeds. Have a file on hand to keep this blade sharp after use.

• A soil knife (trowel) — “If you are planting a

lot of smaller transplants and your soil is rela-tively friable, I prefer to use a soil knife,” Enroth explained. “It is a point-ed blade with a handle. Simply stab the soil, pull it back, drop in the trans-plant, and remove the knife and firm up the soil around the new plant.”

• A bucket — Good for storing and moving tools, gathering up plant mate-rial, harvesting the fruits of your labor and sitting. Make sure to label which bucket is for harvested vegetables and which one is for carrying manure to the compost pile.

• A good wheelbarrow — “You never know when you will need to move something heavy to the other side of the yard. And a sturdy wheelbarrow can come in mighty handy. There are also several different types of garden carts on the market that may make maneuvering around the garden a little easier,” Enroth said.

8


Hog and pork prices return to reality

URBANA — Hog and pork prices were launched to almost unexplainable heights by concerns over reduced pork supplies from the PED (porcine epidemic diarrhea) virus in the spring and summer. More recently, prices have been in descent and now have returned to more realistic levels, according to a Purdue University Extension economist.

“The high-price peri-od began to emerge in mid-February 2014 as media attention began to focus on the death losses from the PED virus,” said Chris Hurt. “There were media descriptions of nearly 100 percent death losses in some herds with a disease that was spread-ing rapidly to other herds. There were rumors of the possibility of 20 per-cent reductions in pork supplies. Hog prices shot higher.”

By late March, live hog prices reached near their yearly highs of $98 per live hundredweight.

“The extraordinary fact is that this was nearly $40 higher than the same time a year earlier, or about 70 percent above year-ago prices,” Hurt said. Prices continued to be sharply above year-earlier levels for the spring, summer, and into the fall. From March through mid-Oc-tober, live hog prices this year averaged $86 com-pared to $68 for the same period in 2013.

“The ‘fact’ or reality is that pork supplies have not been down sharply in 2014,” Hurt said. “So far this year, pork supplies are only down 2 percent as 5 percent fewer hogs have been largely offset by percent higher weights. It seems that market partic-ipants vastly overbid hog prices to ‘fantasy’ levels. On the other hand, at the time the uncertainty of supplies was very real and markets bid a huge ‘risk

premium’ into prices.”Looking back on the

year, it seems clear that the old adage of ‘buy the rumor, and sell the fact’ may be the best way to characterize this year’s price pattern,” Hurt said. “The ‘rumor’ that PED might greatly reduce pork supplies was an import-ant factor in the elevated prices. But the ‘fact’ that PED was not a major dis-ruptor of supplies has now allowed prices to return to more realistic levels.”

According to Hurt, the media has also given con-siderable attention to record-high retail pork prices this year, although consumer beef prices have received even more attention. With hog pric-es returning to reality this fall, retail pork prices are expected to also experi-ence some declines, Hurt said. Wholesale pork prices reached their highs in July and have now had three months of moderation. Retail prices tend to lag wholesale prices by three to six months, but the offi-cial October estimate of retail prices shows some consumer relief as prices fell 7 cents per pound, the first sign of lower prices in nearly a year. Retail pork prices should continue to moderate somewhat through 2015 as pork sup-plies increase.

“Consumers have not complained much about retail pork prices that averaged $4.14 a pound in October, according to USDA’s estimate of the average grocery store price of pork,” Hurt said. “The reason is because beef prices were at $6.24 a pound, making pork look like a bargain at $2.10 a pound lower than beef.”

What do “more realis-tic” hog prices mean for the remainder of this year and 2015? Hurt said PED is still having an impact and is still killing some baby pigs. However, markets

are treating PED as some-thing that can be managed unlike last spring and sum-mer when the “rumor” mill was creating grave uncer-tainty for pork supplies. Pork supplies are expect-ed to be down 1 percent in December, January, and February, and then increase by 3 percent in the spring and 5 percent in the summer.

Live hog prices are expected to average about $67 to $68 in the final quarter of this year and through the winter. The highest prices for next year are expected in the second quarter, averaging near $70, but then falling to the mid-$60s in the summer and down to the mid-$50s by the fall as pork supplies continue to increase.

According to Hurt, the most profitable year on record will be 2014, with estimated profits near $55 per head. Those will remain strong for the first three quarters in 2015, averaging around $44 per head, before tailing off to around $10 per head in the final quarter. Profits for the entire year of 2015 are still expected to be $36 per head, which would be the third highest profit year of the last 26 years dating back to 1990.

“High hog prices and lower costs are the keys to current profitability,” Hurt said. “Estimated annual costs of production have dropped from a high of $67 per live hundred-weight in the drought year of 2012 to $56.50 for this calendar year and to $52 anticipated for 2015. Nota-bly, corn prices declined sharply in the fall of 2013, but meal prices did not decline overall until the fall of 2014 (with some near-by supply shortages still to work through). So 2015 will be the first calendar year when both corn prices and meal prices have moderat-ed, dropping feed costs to five-year lows.”

Shaw Media Service file photo

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Consortium receives $7 million to empower women farmersURBANA — A consor-

tium led by the University of Illinois College of Agri-cultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) has been awarded $7 million from the Unit-ed States Agency for Inter-national Development (USAID) to increase glob-al food security and sup-port effective rural devel-opment by empowering women to better con-tribute to higher house-hold incomes, increase agricultural productivity and improve nutritional outcomes for family and community members.

The new project, “Inte-grating Gender and Nutri-tion within Agricultur-al Extension Services” (INGENAES), aims to strengthen gender and nutrition integration within and through agri-cultural extension and advisory services and ulti-mately reduce poverty,

improve food security and reduce malnutrition.

“This is a program of action,” said Paul McNamara, INGEN-AES project director and associate professor in the ACES Department of Agri-cultural and Consumer Economics. “We will be working in these countries to help improve women farmers’ access to exten-sion services. We will also be using extension ser-vices to improve women’s access to critical inputs and helping extension services address nutrition concerns through their programs. We have com-mitted to not just thinking and writing about these issues but to actually improving the situation; it is action-oriented schol-arship and outreach.”

INGENAES is the latest of three associate awards that have followed the $12 million, USAID-funded,

ACES-led Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services (MEAS) project, which serves to define and disseminate good practice strategies and approaches to establishing efficient, effective, and financially sustainable rural exten-sion and advisory service systems in selected devel-oping countries.

“During our MEAS work, we’ve seen that especially for poor farm-ers, many of whom are women, access to services is a problem; and access to extension services, which, for example, may be able to help women get better access to fer-tilizer or improved seeds, is simply not available,” explained McNamara. “An additional compo-nent to INGENAES is the intersection of nutrition and agriculture and how agricultural extension programs can help pro-

mote practices that help improve nutrition.”

The INGENAES team will be working in at least eight countries that will be selected over the next couple of months. Led by McNamara, the team includes three associate directors: Andrea Bohn from the U of I College of ACES, who is also the proj-ect manager for MEAS; Kathleen Earl Colverson from the University of Florida; and Kristy Cook from Cultural Practice LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm.

“It is most important to consider the multiple roles that women hold,” said Colverson. “It is crit-ical that when you intro-duce a new technology you are not adding anoth-er responsibility to wom-en’s already overbur-dened lifestyles. Women and children are generally responsible for repetitive

household tasks (such as gathering firewood and carrying water), often without mechanization and electricity, so the question is how can we introduce innovations that will reduce their bur-den and not add a dif-ferent burden, such as providing equipment that is too big, heavy, or dan-gerous.”

Cultural Practice LLC is a consultancy firm that will provide support to the management team and provide technical assistance to the program. “We all know that agricul-ture is key to improved nutrition, but we don’t pay enough attention to the roles and relation-ships of men and women in agriculture,” said Cook. “These relationships determine what is pro-duced, sold, purchased, and fed to children.”

According to Bohn, the

INGENAES project will focus on changing behav-ior at the individual and organizational levels with the goal of improving live-lihoods. “This is not about us going and telling peo-ple what to do,” she said. “It is about being a sound-ing board. It is about lis-tening more than telling and engaging with organi-zations and individuals to help identify how chang-ing behaviors is for their own profit and in their own best interest.”

Initially concentrat-ing on four countries, the team will apply a multistep programmatic approach for 15 months and will later revise the program as needed for an additional four countries. The specific countries have yet to be selected, but they will be selected from among the existing Feed the Future coun-tries.

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2015 AFBF Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show features more exhibits, innovation and interaction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Farmers, ranchers and growers will focus on inno-vation and engagement when they converge on San Diego, Calif., Jan. 9-14, for American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2015 Annu-al Convention and IDEAg Trade Show.

The AFBF Annual Con-vention will feature head-line speakers, timely infor-mation and strategies farmers need to engage on the many public policy issues. The latest in agri-cultural technology, equip-ment, programs and ser-vices will take the spotlight at the all-new, interactive IDEAg Trade Show Jan. 9-11.

“The new IDEAg Trade Show is a greatly expanded exhibition of all the tools and technology that are essential for farmers and ranchers to succeed in today’s efficient and pro-ductive agricultural envi-

ronment,” said Raymond Bianchi, senior director, expositions and events for AFBF and IDEAg Group. “The IDEAg brand is truly premier in the farm show business. Adding this expertise to the AFBF Annual Convention offers farmers and ranchers a great opportunity to pack a lot of business into one dynamic event.”

The IDEAg Trade Show will feature cutting-edge technologies and products for America’s farmers and ranchers. Featured exhib-itors will include Case IH, Dow Agroscience, DuPont Pioneer, General Motors, John Deere, Monsanto, Nationwide Insurance and Valley Irrigation. The show is divided into four focus areas:

Innovate: focused on the latest technology; Invest: focused on the business of agriculture; Infrastructure: focused on the systems

used in agriculture; and Engage: focused on state Farm Bureau’s and policy engagement.

The IDEAg show will also feature an on-site Cultiva-tion Center programmed with short content that will engage attendees on the focus areas of the show. The show also will feature, on Jan. 10, the IDEAg Inno-vate conference, which will spotlight topics such as managing agricultural big data, the use of drones for farming purposes, preci-sion agriculture and Inter-net strategies for farmers and ranchers. That day’s events and all the exhibits will be open to all farmers, ranchers and agricultural professionals.

Coupled with the trade show, AFBF’s Annual Con-vention is even more of an essential event for Ameri-ca’s farmers and ranchers. Speakers will include AFBF President Bob Stallman,

Jay Leno, U.S. Navy SEAL Commander Rorke Denver and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (invited).

Before registering online at annualconvention.fb.org, farmer and ranch-er members should check with their state Farm Bureau office to see if they have already been regis-tered. The full Farm Bureau member registration fee is $100 and includes the IDEAg Trade Show and Young Farmer & Rancher competitive events, gen-eral sessions, workshops and the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture Silent Auction. Non-members may pay $10 in advance for a one-day registration to attend the IDEAg Trade Show and Foundation Silent Auction on Saturday, Jan. 10.

For more information on the IDEAg Trade Show, contact Raymond Bianchi at 847-969-2915.

Survey: Gauging the aspirations, needs of women in agricultureWASHINGTON, D.C.

— The American Farm Bureau Women’s Lead-ership Program has launched “Women in Ag,” an online survey that aims to gauge the goals, aspi-rations, achievements and needs of women in Ameri-can agriculture in a num-ber of different areas.

All women who are con-nected to agriculture are invited to participate in the survey at womeninag.fb.org. Respondents must reside in the United States. Farm Bureau membership is not required to partic-ipate.

“This comprehensive survey is the first of its kind to ask women in-depth questions about how they are connected to agricul-ture and what leadership skills they think are most important today, as well as the top business chal-lenges they’re facing,” said Terry Gilbert, a Kentucky

farmer and chair of the American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee. “All women involved in agriculture – not just Farm Bureau members – are invited to participate in the survey,” Gilbert emphasized.

Data collected from respondents will be used to gauge trends related to the achievements of women in agriculture.

The AFB Women’s Lead-ership Committee is spon-soring the survey and is working with other farm and agriculture organiza-tions to encourage partici-pation. Participants will be eligible for an opportuni-ty to win one of five $100 gift cards after the survey closes. Preliminary find-ings from the survey will be released in February 2015 at AFBF’s FUSION Conference in Nashville, Tenn.; the full report will be released in late spring.

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Cover crops can sequester soil organic carbonURBANA — A 12-year

University of Illinois study shows that, although the use of cover crops does not improve crop yields, the practice does increase the amount of seques-tered soil organic carbon using three different soil management systems.

U of I soil scientist Ken Olson evaluated plots that were subjected to no-till, chisel plow and mold-board plow treatments with and without hairy vetch and cereal rye cover crops.

“By 2012, we found that the soil tillage plots that had cover-crop treat-ments had more soil organic carbon stock than those without cover crops for the same soil root zone and tillage treatment,” Olson said.

In fact, Olson said the no-till system, with cover crops, sequestered the most soil organic carbon

when compared to the pre-treatment from the year 2000 no-till baseline soil organic carbon stock.

“In addition, the no-tilled, chisel plowed and moldboard-plowed plots with cover crops all sequestered soil organ-ic carbon above the pre-treatment baseline levels of the same tillage treatment.”

With the addition of cover crops to all tillage treatments for the 12-year study, the soil organ-ic carbon stock gains were 30 percent high-er for no-till, 10 percent higher for chisel plowed and 18 percent for mold-board-plowed plots.

“This suggests that soil organic carbon stock losses from tillage, water erosion and some distur-bance or mixing during no-till planting, aeration, nitrogen injection in corn years and mineraliza-

tion were less than the soil organic carbon gain from the cover-crop treat-ment,” Olson said.

Olson stressed that establishing a baseline of

soil organic carbon prior to the study is critical in order to claim that soil organic carbon is truly being sequestered.

“Management prac-

tices, such as no-till and cover crops, must create an increase in net soil organic carbon from a previous pre-treatment baseline, as well as result

in a net reduction in atmospheric carbon diox-ide levels to be described as having sequestered soil organic carbon,” Olson said.

The study was con-ducted at U of I’s Dixon Springs Agricultural Research Center in south-ern Illinois beginning in 2001 on sloping ground with a moderately well drained, eroded soil.

“Long-Term, Effects of Cover Crops on Crop Yields, Soil Organic Car-bon Stocks and Seques-tration” was published in Open Journal of Soil Sci-ence and was co-authored by Stephen A. Ebelhar and James M. Lang. Olson is a researcher in the Depart-ment of Natural Resourc-es and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sci-ences at the University of Illinois.

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Young farmers, ranchers tell EPA to ditch the rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. — America’s young farmers and ranchers are speaking out on the impact their new businesses will suffer under the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers’ pro-posed Waters of the U.S. rule, the American Farm Bureau Federation said.

AFBF’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee outlined its key concerns regarding the Waters of the U.S. rule in formal comments submitted to the EPA.

“EPA keeps grasping for control over our farms and ranches,” AFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee Chair Jake Carter said. “Young farm-ers and ranchers are the future of American agri-culture, and we take our role of protecting the land seriously. This proposal puts serious roadblocks

in our way without any material improvements in water quality.”

Young farmers and ranchers are especially vulnerable to increased costs in farming. Since the already narrow “nor-mal farming and ranch-ing” exemption in the Clean Water Act excludes farms and ranches that started operating after 1977, farmers and ranch-ers with newer business-es will need permits for basic farming activities, including simply moving dirt.

Under this proposed rule, the only thing that is clear and certain is that it will be more difficult to farm and ranch, or to make any changes on the land – even if those changes would bene-fit the environment, the AFBF committee said.

Shaw Media Service file photo

The calm of winterThe harvest is over and planting is still a few months away. It is now time to enjoy a little quiet time before the cycle starts over.

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