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St. Elmo News

Announcements
Thursday, July 20
• Fayette County Fair 4-H and junior general projects show, 8 a.m. The 4-H items will be removed after the awards presentation at 6 p.m.

                                  
• Fayette County Fair grandstand – Stock car racing, 7 p.m.
Friday, July 21                                                                                                                                              
• Fayette County Fair grandstand – Feudin’ Hillbillys, 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 22
• St. Elmo High School class of 1977 40th anniversary. Charlie Miller is organizing it to be held on his family farm.     
• Fayette County Fair 4-H dairy and cattle show, 9 a.m. The junior dairy open show is 30 minutes after the 4-H show.                                                              
• Fayette County Fair grandstand – C-Bar Rodeo (open), 7 p.m.
Sunday, July 23
• Randall and Carolyn Clay of Greenville, Ohio, will sing at First Assembly of God Church at the 10 a.m. service and again at the 6 p.m. service.
The services are open to the public. A love offering will be accepted.                                                                             
Monday, July 24
• Fayette County Home and Community Education Board, 10 a.m., Vandalia Extension Office.
• HCE Telenet Lesson – “Hold That Thought: Brain Health,” 2-3 p.m., Vandalia Extension Office. The public is invited and there is no charge.
• St. Elmo Lions Club, 6 p.m., Mary Ann’s Restaurant.  Guests will be 1M Govenor Bennett and several members of the Vandalia Lions Club.
Wednesday, July 26
• “Exploring the Arts: for grades 3-8, 6-8 p.m., St. Elmo Christian Church.
Thursday, July 27
• ExxonMobil Annuitants, noon, Litchfield Maverick Restaurant.      
Alumni Reservations Reminder
St. Elmo High School alumni and friends are reminded of the Saturday, Aug.19, Alumni Luncheon at noon in the First Church of God S.H.E.D. Reservations for the catered lunch have to be made no later than Tuesday, Aug. 8. No tickets for the luncheon will be available at the door.
Tickets are $12 each and are available at the United Fidelity Bank (former Fayette County Bank). The money has to be taken personally to the bank, not mailed to them, to get on the list.
You can call Lorene Abendroth at 829-5466 to make your reservation; you will be put on the attendance list. But your reservation is tentative until your check is received; no exceptions.
If you want a receipt from Lorene, enclose with your check a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Her address is: Lorene Abendroth, 1864 N 1800 St., St. Elmo, Ill. 62458.
Include your class’s graduation date (even if you graduated elsewhere), your mailing address and women, your maiden name.
On Aug. 8, Lorene will tally the paid reservations and advise the caterer.
Singh’s New Boy
Harry and Dinple Singh of Vandalia became parents of their third child the evening of July 15 at the Greenville Hospital. The 5-pound boy was transferred to the HSHS Holy Spirit Hospital in St. Louis and is still to be named. He has two sisters: Tanzy and Jazy. This summer, the Singhs opened the food store in St. Elmo – T & J Food Mart.
St. Elmo Lions Club
July anniversaries of St. Elmo Lions Club members were recognized at the May 10 meeting held at Mary Ann’s Restaurant: Richard Lowe with 22 years, Mark Lash with 16 years, Bob Lowe with seven years, Max Hollinshead and Dave Cox each with four years and Holly Huffer with three years.
President Dave Maxey opened the meeting by leading in the Pledge of Allegiance and Dan Laack leading in prayer.
The meeting consisted of further discussion for this year’s Labor Day Parade. Final details will be published at a future date.
The club has volunteered to assist the Vandalia Lion’s Club with ticket taking on Saturday, July 22, at 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Fayette County Fair.
The club will assist the Fayette County Food Bank with food distribution at the Pinnacle Foods parking lot on Saturday, Aug. 12.
District 1M Governor Bennett and several members of the Vandalia Lions Club will be guests at the club’s July 24 meeting.
The following 20 members were present: Dave Cox, Don Crawford, Pee Wee Denton, Roger Fulk, Skip Heaton, Max Hollinshead, Holly Huffer, Dan Laack, Mark Lash, Bob Lowe, Richard Lowe, LeMar Marchman, Dave Maxey, Al Nevergall, Dee Newberry, Rex Reeder, Lloyd Stanley, Bob Wells, Will Williams and Randy Wolf.
Rhodes-Side Gleanings on an Obit
The evening of July 11 I went to the Howe & Yockey Funeral Home in Shelbyville for the visitation for David C. Kessler, 70, of Shelbyville, who died July 7. His survivors include his wife, Carole Kessler who is president of the Embarras River District United Methodist Women.
In 1988 he began working for the Illinois Department of Transportation as a field technician and was responsible for Coles, Moultrie and Fayette counties and retired in 2008.
Memorials may be made to the Shelbyville First United Methodist Church.
RNA Pregnancy Collections
From the middle of June to the middle of July, Royal Neighbors of America #5784 collected items for the Lighthouse Pregnancy and Health Services at Vandalia. Some of the items were collected in a designated box at Mary Ann’s Restaurant. The following items were collected: 11 baby blankets, two sheets, a cloth bag, three clothing outfits, five bibs, two pair booties, 1 pair socks, two large packages of Loves diapers, one body wash, two toothbrushes, wipes, four pacifiers, a package of Kleenex, two tubes diaper rash ointment, four bars soap, one toothpaste, one body lotion, two deodorants, powder, two hair conditioners, two shampoos, one hand sanitizing wet wipes and 11 “ones/sixes.”
Library Board
The St. Elmo Public Library District Board met the evening of July 13 in the St. Elmo Public Library. The open budget and appropriation meeting was held.
After the noard approved and paid the bills, JoAn Evans of the Beecher City Branch Library said the painting at the library was finished.
She is renting a bouncy house for the last summer reading program. Pizza was donated for the last reading program by Beecher City Food Liner.
Frontier put a new modem in the library, but it hasn’t seemed to help very much.
Wayne Moran said Wabash Fiber Optic has not gotten back to him yet about getting fiber optic for the library. He is checking into the cost of a hot spot box for the librarian’s desk.
The air conditioner was repaired at the St. Elmo Library. Two librarians attended a catalog class in Effingham and will attend another in August.
The board approved a bid for a new roof for the front part of the St. Elmo Library and a bid for replacing the awning at the Brownstown Branch Lbrary.
Joe’s Pizza will be ordered for the last summer reading program party for the St. Elmo Library and the Brownstown Branch Library.
A motion to adopt Ordinance 2017-3 was passed.
The August district board meeting will be held at the Beecher City Branch Library.
The September district board meeting will be held at the Brownstown Branch Library.
Rhodes-Side Gleanings on Fayette County Fair
Being a member of the Home Bureau/Homemakers Extension/Home and Community Education since March of 1949, I still like to be active in the organization. HCE members were encouraged to help the fair by entering items in the open exhibit various classifications. Class L-floriculture is my favorite class to enter, because flower arranging is my favorite hobby.
My mother-in-law, Alice Rhodes, who was in the Garden Club, did beautiful arrangements. She also gave programs and became a flower-arranging judge.
I became a 4-H leader in April 1952, after several years I quit being a leader, but, after three years I started back again.
Over the years, I took many Extension lessons to help me be a better 4-H leader – clothing, tailoring, crafts, candles, flower arranging, etc.
For the 48 years being a 4-H leader, I had many girls take the flower arranging project and most of them won at least one county trophy and did well participating in the state fair 4-H flower arranging.
I think this is the fourth year I started entering items at the fair – three to six each year. This year, I decided to enter flower arrangements in most of the classes (and you can enter only two in each class); I entered 23 arrangements.
Those that received first and second place in each of these categories: miniature arrangement not to exceed 6-inches in any direction, arrangement featuring candles and silk flowers, bottle arrangement, arrangement of roses, cup & saucer arrangement, arrangement for a new baby, arrangement for mantel, dining table arrangement using silk flowers and dried flower arrangement.
I entered only one fresh flowers arrangement and it received first.
Arrangement using a wicker basket with fresh flowers, a second and a third.
Arrangements of all white flowers in a red, white & blue vase, a first and a fourth.
Each year I entered a couple of hobbies. This year I entered the tiny baskets and received a first and the bird collection that received a third.
I also entered two scenic photos that didn’t place and two other photos—one received 5th place.
The 29 entries received 12 firsts, 10 seconds, two thirds and one fifth, and three didn’t receive a ribbon.

 

Marsha Lilly-Wright is pictured with items that Royal Neighbors of America donated to Lighthouse Pregnancy Center.

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