St. Elmo News

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Wednesday, July 25
• St. Elmo Unit of Home and Communication will leave at 10 a.m. to go to the Highland House of Plenty for lunch.
• Royal Neighbors of America, 1:30 p.m. School supplies will be accepted at the meeting.
Thursday, July 26
• ExxonMobil Annuitants, noon, at Litchfield Chinese Restaurant.
Sunday, July 29
• A Fifth Sunday breakfast potluck will be held at 9 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall of First United Methodist Church.
• Youth Sunday at the St. Elmo Christian Church. There will be only one service, at 9:30 a.m.
Monday, July 30
• The Reverb Youth of St. Elmo Christian Church has an Inner City Mission trip planned for Aug. 1, from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. The cost is $10, plus money for supper. Those planning to attend are to let David Altman know by Monday.
Tuesday, July 31
• Seventh-grade orientation for all seventh-grade students and parents, 6-8 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 1
• The St. Elmo Christian Church Reverb group will leave at 8 a.m. for the Inner City Mission trip and return at 8 p.m.
• Registration for Elementary and Jr.-Sr. High School, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Wright’s Corner Unit of Home and Community Education, 11 a.m., Vandalia Ponderosa.
• Registration for the inaugural St. Elmo Kickball Tournament has to be made by Wednesday at St. Elmo City Hall. The entry fee is $50 per team. The tournament will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 4, at Deken Park. Each team must have eight, but no more than 12 players. Kids and adults of all ages are encouraged to play. This is being hosted by the St. Elmo Tourism Committee. For questions, call 829-3319 or 704-9250.
Thursday, August 2
• Registration for Elementary and Jr.-Sr. High School, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
• St. Elmo Business Association, noon, Mary Ann’s Restaurant.
• Wheatland Unit of Home and Community Education, 1:30 p.m., Phillips Building.
Future Announcement
On Aug. 4, the Ramblin’ Rose Bus will be in St. Elmo at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church, from 9-11 a.m. It is a ministry sponsored by the Effingham Catholic Charities to deliver school supplies and clothing.
The program is designed to provide assistance to families with limited financial means who qualify for free or reduced school lunches. Children K-12 may receive needed items, which include a backpack and other basic supplies. School clothing is available from the bus or families may choose to receive a voucher and shop for their clothing at Second Hand Rose Resale Shoppe located in the Catholic Charities building on East Fayette in Effingham.
Historical Vandalia Inc.
The Historical Vandalia Inc. Board met at 6:30 p.m. on July 16 in the Fayette County Museum. Present were board members President Steve Durbin, Betty Anderson and Mary Truitt of  Vandalia, Barbara Buckland of Brownstown, Jim Brewer of Ramsey, Marilyn Beyes of Smithboro and Anna Jean Rhodes of St. Elmo, and a guest, Joyce Mueller of Vandalia.
The museum had 325 visitors in June, more than the 299 in June 2011.
Many items for the museum have been donated since the June meeting. They include slides, newspapers, photos, a Bible and books, including a history of Fayette County 1878.
It was reported that the Vandalia Girl Scouts did a good job weeding the garden.
The museum-sponsored rummage sale will be held on Saturday, Sept. 29, when the Grande Levée/Fall Festival will be held. The rummage sale, and also a bake sale, will start at 10 a.m. and will be held in the museum garden.
After Aug. 13, donated items for the sale can be taken to the museum, and they will be stored upstairs until the day of the sale. Clothing is not being accepted.
The “Sunday Afternoon of Entertainment” programs will be on Sept. 16 and Nov. 4 of this year and Jan. 13. All will be at 2 p.m. in the Vandalia First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. Season tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for youth ages 7-18; children under 6 are free. A single ticket for one performance is $13 if bought ahead or $15 at the door for adults and for youth ages 7-18, half price, $6.50 if bought in advance and $7.50 if bought at the door.
The September performance is “Martha, Stories and Song,” with the person giving it dressed as Martha Washington. More will be given on this later.
St. Elmo Women’s Civic Club
New members for the St. Elmo Women’s Civic Club are accepted all year, but those wanting to have their names in the 2012-13 program books have to pay their dues by the end of July.
The dues are $15 per year. That money is used for community projects that include the food pantry, Caring and Sharing, blood drive canteen expenses, toward a high school scholarship and SEBA Labor Day expenses.
The club’s third vice president, Karen Denning, is in charge of collecting the dues. The books will be printed in August. The club’s year is June through May, but there are only membership meeting months September through May. The meetings are held in the evening of the first Thursdays of the month.
The Sept. 6 meeting will be at the St. Elmo Public Library at 7 p.m. The program is Bonsai Shop.
The club officers meet at least once each summer to set up the budget, programs and hostesses for the club years. They met the evening of July 11 in the home of Anna Jean Rhodes, the corresponding and recording secretary. Others present were Pat Porter, president; Lucille Koeberlein, first vice president and finance chair; Ann Rowland and Libby Kessel, co-second vice presidents and program chair; and Karen Denning, third vice and membership chair. The treasurer, Elizabeth Stoner, was unable to be present.
The club budget for the year will be in the program books and will be voted on at the September meeting to be approved or changed if needed to be.
Library Cookbook Info
The St. Elmo Library District has a committee that is planning to make a cookbook to raise funds for a program on loaning e-books. Involved are the three libraries – St. Elmo Public, Brownstown Branch and Beecher City Branch. Recipes are needed from residents in all three communities.
The sheets to put the recipes are now available at the three libraries. The sheets will have the instructions on how to submit a recipe.
A cookbook committee meeting was held the afternoon of July17 in the St. Elmo library with the following present: Chairman Connie Camnick, Lani Davis, Sue Hord, Kim Karnes, Anna Jean Rhodes and Karen Wegscheid, all of St. Elmo; and Billie Enlow of Brownstown. On the committee, but unable to attend, are Julie Bushue, Jody McWhorter and Tamela Palanin.
The next meeting of the committee is set for Aug. 9.
Vit-Em-In Class Potluck
Present for the July 19 meeting of the Vit-Em-In Class potluck held in the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall were Elizabeth Bail, Bob Cox, Frank and Delva Krost, Helen Koonce, Ed and Barb Lane, Richard Lowe (who gave the meal blessing), Bob and Joanne Owen, Anna Jean Rhodes, and Jack and Marilyn Sproat.
Most of the time, those who attend are not told what to take. Sometimes the meal includes many desserts, sometimes there are not many meats, sometimes veggies and/or salads are needed. This month’s well balanced menu included fried chicken, two different hamburger casseroles, beef and noodles, corn, asparagus, pickled beets, a lettuce vegetable salad, a fruit salad, a strawberry gelled salad, two peach pies and a custard pie – a good selection provided by the 13 who attended.
After the meal Delva Krost had a short business meeting. There was no program, just visiting.
Friendship Quilt Club
Officers elected at the July 19 meeting of the Friendship Quilt Club held at the St. Elmo Public Library were Karen Roedl of Altamont, president; Julie Aderman of Farina, vice president; Tamara Johnson of Brownstown and Joy Edwards of Altamont, co-secretary/treasurer; Peggy Stolte of Farina, first-quarter chairman; and Tonya Austin of St. Elmo, historian.
There was no program, but those attending presented ideas for quilting, shortcuts, etc. Aderman served refreshments to the 11 members present.
United Methodist Church
A lay speaker, Chuck Cunningham of the Watson First United Methodist Church, was the speaker at the morning worship of the St. Elmo First United Methodist Church.
Organist Richard Tucker of Altamont and pianist Joann Maxey of St. Elmo played the hymns together. The special music was sung by a trio of Linda Niodunski, Joann Maxey and Leatha Newberry, with Tucker at the piano. Linda is the sister of Tucker. She lives in Seguin, Texas, but is spending the summer in this area visiting relatives.
For the fifth Sundays, the church usually has some type of potluck; this Sunday, it will be a potluck breakfast at 9 a.m. in the church Fellowship Hall.
IGRC of UMC New Bishop
The Illinois Great River Conference of the United Methodist Churches will have a change in bishops on Sept. 1. The following article was in the July 22 church bulletin:
Bishop Jonathan Keaton has been assigned as Episcopal leader of the Illinois Area, effective Sept. 1, according to a release from Paul Black of the IGRC Communication Team.
Keaton, currently bishop of the Michigan Area, will succeed Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, who has been assigned to West Ohio after a single term in Illinois.
Keaton was elected to the episcopacy in 1996. Prior to that, he served as a district superintendent in the Northern Illinois Conference.
He was a member of the conference staff responsible for monitoring the church’s stand on social issues, providing support and encouragement for ethnic local churches and promoting spiritual formation.
Keaton also has served churches in Chicago and Rockford, and was a teaching assistant at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, where he earned a master’s of divinity and doctorate in sacred theology.
Keaton teaches in numerous conference Schools of Christian Mission. Currently, Bishop Keaton chairs the denomination’s Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century Committee.
He has traveled extensively in support of world missions, and he and his wife, Beverly, have three children and one grandchild.