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St. Elmo News

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Thursday, May 16
• National Nursing Home Week is being observed by Friendship Manor Nursing Home, and a homemade ice cream social will be at 2:30 p.m.
• Vit-Em-In Sunday school class potluck, 6 p.m., First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall.
Friday, May 17
• Prairieland Pickers will perform at 10 a.m. at the Tuscola Health Care and at 2 p.m. at the Arcola Health Care.
• Friendship Manor Nursing Home will have a pet show and parade. There will be the ugliest dog contest at 2 p.m., followed by a pet parade; all dogs are free to enter.
Saturday, May 18
• The St. Elmo Community Clothes Closet will be open from 9 a.m.-noon in the First United Methodist Church Parsonage. The Closet has recently received a large number of clothes for children and babies. The Clothes Closet will not be open on May 25.
• The Fayette County Food Bank food distribution will be at Pinnacle Foods, starting at 10 a.m. Those wanting the food are to take bags, baskets or boxes.
• Saturday is American Legion Poppy Day and poppies will be sold in St. Elmo by Post #420.
• The St. Elmo High School graduation, 7 p.m., in the high school gym.
Monday, May 20
• Reservations should be made by Monday for the St. Elmo Alumni Banquet, to be held Saturday, May 25, in the high school gym. Tickets are $12 per person, and they can be purchased at Fayette County Bank. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the meal will be served at 6 p.m.
• The Fayette County Home and Community Education Board, 10 a.m., Fayette County Extension Office. In May, the board meets on the third Monday, because the fourth Monday is a holiday.
• The St. Elmo Board of Education regular May meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the unit office.
Tuesday, May 21
• Free bingo for area senior citizens, 10 a.m., Friendship Manor Nursing Home.
Wednesday, May 22
• Royal Neighbors of America #5784, 1 p.m., Phillips Building.
• Reverb Youth, 6:30 p.m., St. Elmo Christian Church.
Thursday, May 23
• The St. Elmo Unit of Home and Community Education, 1:30 p.m., St. Elmo Public Library.
Future Announcements
• Scout Bake Sale, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, May 25, St. Elmo Christian Church.
*American Legion Post #420 Memorial Day program will be at the Veterans’ Memorial on Monday, May 27.
Fayette County Museum Info
Spring is a great time to visit the Fayette County Museum in Vandalia. Special exhibits in May are 1940s Mother’s Day and Memories of World War II.
The museum welcomes the many tours and individuals at this time of year.
During recent months, many of the museum’s artifacts have been given conservation restoration. They now are on display in the upstairs area and many have not been on display before.
The museum is open from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Saturday. There is no charge, but there is a donation jar for those who wish to make a donation for the museum’s operating fund.
The Amateur Town and Country Art Show and Professional Art Show sponsored by the Artworks Gallery at the museum will be open to the public June 15-23. Entries for the shows are due by May 26. Entry forms are available at the museum or may be requested by calling 283-4866. Delivery of art and photography work to be shown is on June 8-9.
St. Elmo Christian Church
The Men’s Group monthly Bible study meets at 7:30 a.m. the first Saturday of the month at St. Elmo Christian Church.
Those present at the May 4 breakfast were Dave Altman, Ken Berg, Bob Booher, Tom Fedrigon, James Mulvany, Ron Myers, Toby Tackett and Dave Wells.
Youth attending the Agape Fest at the Bond County Fairgrounds in Greenville, from 2:30 p.m.-midnight on May 4, were Dave Altman, Trista Altman, Blake Austin, Megan Denton, Landon Dial, Braden Dilley, Marlee Fearday, Jordan Fedrigon, Kayla Haselett, Alan Ledbetter, Josh Ledbetter, Jenna Long, Hannah Magnus, Bianca McConkey, Caitlynn Phillips, Megan Porter, Brooklyn Rogers, Courtney Russell, Katie Russell, Starr Smith, Madie Stonum, Jakeb Stork, Laney Wilhour and Tristian Zeller.
Baptized on Sunday, May 5, at St. Elmo Christian Church by the Rev. Tom Fedrigon were Samantha Austin, Blake Austin and Emily Bone.
The JAMKids Summer Bash group, kids pre-K through the sixth grade, left the church at 4:15 p.m. Sunday and returned at 8:30 p.m. It was for pizza and fun at the Mattoon Issaak’s Party Family Fun Center.
Those who attended were Clayton Aderman, Dave Altman, Jenna Altman, Mitch Altman, Trista Altman, Laney Baldridge, Emily Bone, Mckaeal Dye, Ava Harre, Denise Harre, Ada Logsdon, Audria Logue, Jennifer Logue, Jimmy Logue, Jenna Long, Kori Machado, Avery Myers, Cheri Myers, Dalton Myers, Jarrett Pasley, Kolby Phillips, Kristian Phillips, Jackson Porter and Madie Stonum
The Women’s Group meets at 6 p.m. each Sunday for Bible study.
The St. Elmo Christian Church plans to attend Christian Family Day with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, July 7; game time with the Marlins is 1:15 p.m., with Willie Robertson from Duck Dynasty speaking after the game.
Group tickets are $20 each if the church can get 25 people to go. The tickets need to be ordered so the deadline to do so is set for Monday, May 20. You can email davealtman83@yahoo.com and turn your money in to secure a spot.
Friendly Neighbors
Eleven members and a guest were present for the Friendly Neighbors potluck held at noon on May 7 in the Phillips Building. They were Shirley Smith and her guest, Geraldine Lange of Altamont, and Ina Abendroth, Bob and Joanne Owen, Irene Reed, Larry Reed, Marjorie Sarver, R. W. and Mary Smith, and Laverne and Leona Wright, all of St. Elmo.
R. W. Smith opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance and gave the meal blessing. After the meal, Irene Reed read a Mother’s Day poem.
Mother/Daughter Dinner
A Mother-Daughter potluck dinner was held in St. Mary’s Catholic Church Parish Hall the evening of May 7, with 40 in attendance.
After the dinner, the Big Spike Hammer Band performed. Members of the band are Elaine Feezel and Chuck Myers of St. Elmo, Tom Denton of Altamont and Don Krost of Teutopolis.
The tables were decorated with flowers, which were given as door prizes to Sasha Althoff, Mona Durbin, Lucille Koeberlein, Tammy Kramer, Samantha Myers, Pat Porter, Marlene Repke, Ruby Scamahorn, Angela Springman, Laura Springman and Natalie Stout.
Guests present, in addition to the band members, were: Lois Durbin, Rhianna Duckwitz, Dorinda Myers and Samantha Myers, all of St. Elmo; Alena Cage, Allison Cage, Janie Kramer, Lola Gale, Brandy Oakley, Connie Oakley and Genny Wilbur, all of Brownstown; Sasha and Harper Althoff, Susan Murphy and Stacey Koeberlein, all of Effingham; Carlie Higgs, Marlena Repke, Katie Springman and Lori Springman, all of Altamont; Stephanie Blackwell and Angie and Brianna Springham, all of Vandalia; Ruby Scamahorn of Okeechobee; and Sandra Hutsinger of Louisville.
CCW members present were Helen Bergman, Karen Denning, Mona Durbin, Loretta Heischmidt, Debbie Hough, Lucille Koeberlein, Lavonne Kramer, Mary Myers, Lisa Niemeyer, Jan Niemeyer, Pat Porter, Carol Rine, Ann Rowland, Betty Springman and Natalie Stout.
Appointed to the nominating committee were Loretta Heischmidt, Mona Durbin, Lucille Koeberlein and Mary Myers. Officers will be elected and installed at the June 4 meeting.
Library Board
After amending and approving the minutes and paying the bills at the May 10 meeting of the St. Elmo Public Library District, Billie Enlow read two letters, one from National Road and one from the Bryant family.
Libraries would like to change DVD from two-day to seven-day checkout. St. Elmo would like to use the server room for cataloging and switch the light switch there. Enlow will check about getting yearbooks current. The museum needs picture frames.
Enlow said Judy Diller will be at St. Elmo Public Library for a book signing from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Aug. 3 and at the Beecher City Branch Library from 1-3 p.m. on Aug. 5.
Brownstown Branch Library’s carpet was damaged when spraying for termites. Arab will have it repaired.
JoAn Evans reported the Beecher City Branch Library has sold some books, the bathroom door still doesn’t latch correctly, and her grandson will cut and remove the dead trees.
The library had a Frontier representative to check about the slow Internet speed, but the problem has not been solved yet.
OverDrive is doing well and the cookbook sales continue. The books sell for $11 and are available at all three libraries.
At the Beecher City and Brownstown branch libraries, Jim and Betty Bolds will do cleaning once a month.
Wayne Moran reported that Spiceworks has to be done manually, as it doesn’t recognize Windows.
Moran discussed building a new website and open DNS at a cost of $18-$25 per seat per year. He was not sure how it would work with three libraries.
The board adopted Ordinance 2013-1, setting meeting dates for 2013-14 and Ordinance 2012-2, for prevailing wages.
They also set July 11 as the date for the budget hearing and set non-resident fees at $75 for the 2013-14 fiscal year.
The Summer Reading Program will begin June 4 and will be on Tuesday at St. Elmo, Wednesday at Beecher City and Thursday at Brownstown.
The library will pay $150 toward a program by Robin Shuda performing as Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Shelton Plumbing is to replace the faucets at St. Elmo Library.
After going into a closed session to discuss personnel, the board voted that each employee would have set hours based on library hours, and extra hours must be approved by the board in advance except in case of emergency and to cap vacation days at 15 for 15 years of service.
Lunch Bunch
Present for the Lunch Bunch group that met at noon on May 9 at Mary Ann’s Restaurant were Gene Clark of Salem, Pat Porter and Sue Pollack of Farina, and Karen Denning, Anna Jean Rhodes, Marjorie Sarver and Sue Stites, all of St. Elmo.
Bill and Suzanne Tate of Washington, Mo., came to the table to extend greetings to all.         
Methodist Church
Mother’s Day
During the morning worship at First United Methodist Church on May 12, the following mothers were presented with hanging baskets: MaryEllen Lovett, the oldest mother present (age 99); Jenny Anderson, the youngest mother present; Judy Fasnacht, the mother with the most children present (four); and Pat Laack, wife of Rev. Dan Laack. The baskets were donated by the Cumberland Trail Growers.
Before the mothers were recognized, the children did active participation while singing “Jesus, You’re My Super Hero.”
Following the chancel choir’s a cappella singing of “Bound for Jubilee,” with Kathy Spitler the director, Laack gave the morning sermon, “The First Love”
Last on the program was the recognition of graduates by Laack.
College graduates were: Brooke Maxey, from the Kaskaskia College, who was present; and the following who were unable to be present: Jordan Belden and Blake Wright, both of St. Elmo and graduates of the University of Illinois, Joe Samudovsky of Springfield, who graduated with a master’s degree from the Springfield U of I; and Ali Strombaugh of Vandalia, who graduated with a master’s degree from McKendree College.  
High school graduates present were Connor Beasley, Perry Manley, Megan Maxey and Ethan Scholes from St. Elmo HS and Tara Johnson from Brownstown. Unable to be present were Ben Davis, Savannah Feezel, Morgan Reisner and Katie Stites. Each high school graduate received a book.
Each eighth-grade graduate received a gift: Ethan LaMar and Sydney Moss, both present, and Malerie Nickerson, unable to be present.
Lay leader Delva Krost presented the books and gifts.
After the service, each woman present received a potted red geranium, compliments of the Richardson Brothers Greenhouse.
It was announced that the church plans to go to Christian Family Day with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, July 7. That Sunday, the First United Methodist Church will have the morning worship service at 9:30 a.m., with Sunday school following the worship service.
This is so those who want to go to the ballgame that starts at 1:15 p.m. can first attend church. Those wanting tickets to attend the ballgame can contact Shannon Moss.
FFA Annual Pie Auction
Following the St. Elmo-Brownstown FFA banquet held the evening of May 11 in the St. Elmo High School cafeteria the FFA Alumni held the second annual pie auction, co-sponsored with Royal Neighbors of America #5784, and netted more than $3,000.
Proceeds of the auction will be used to sponsor FFA scholarships, purchase FFA jackets and support programs of the FFA throughout the year.
Shawn Hannagan volunteered as auctioneer. Prior to beginning the auction, Hannagan spoke of his learning experience in FFA and how he continues to use those skills in daily living.
The first 12 pies were sold with an appreciation plaque engraved with Second Annual Pie Auction St. Elmo Brownstown FFA Est. 1941. Plaques were donated by RNA and Wright Cattle Co./Steve and Marsha Wright/Trey and Hailey Wright.
Top selling pie was blackberry and was purchased by Gary Barnick of Barnick Farms for $210. The pie was baked in a ceramic pie plate by Karla Lilly, and berries were handpicked from Brian and Leslie Bullard’s berry patch. When auctioned, the pie was still warm.
The second-highest sold went to Randy Mason of Mason’s Grocery for $190. It was an apple pie baked by Irene Reed, RNA event planner.
Other buyers were Wright Way Simmental/Brad and Jackie Wright Family, Sperry’s Service/Dale and Kay Sperry, Post Limosines/Glen and Ann Mills, Red Hawk Propane/Clint and Laura Feezel, Stine Farms/Stanton Stine, CD Feller Enterprises/Casey Feller, Ron Sinclair Family, Buzzard Farms/Dean and Sandy Buzzard, Deb Philpot Family, Beck’s Seed/Troy and Hannah Walker Family, Steve and Gloria Austin Family, Ledbetter/Mopar Farms/Dave and Diane Ledbetter Family, Happy Hollow Farms/Ryan and Lindsey Lash, Jennings Farms/Dave and Bev Jennings.
Clint and Laura Feezel Family donated a wooden farm sign, which Doug Thurnau, FFA adviser, purchased. An additional donation was received from Heckert Farms/Bob and Marcia Heckert.
 

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