Focus on Faith

Focus on Faith – Be thankful for God’s many gifts

Taking the time to find God in our everyday lives isn’t as easy as it would seem.  Because our lives our so busy, God often takes a back seat to everything else that is happening.  After all, there is always someone or something demanding our time.  Most of us seem to be in a constant state of alert there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the week to get everything done.  It is so easy to get TOO BUSY to notice God, TOO BUSY to see God’s presence all around us.

Courthouse News

Cass County Courthouse News  

Information as recorded at the Cass County Courthouse, Virginia. Marriages: NONE Divorces: NONE Property Transfers Ceferino Cortes Altamirano, Quit Claim Deed to Pricila Cortes Tercero, Evelyn Cortes, Ceferino Cortes Altamirano for Lot 5 in Block 20 of Sch Comm Addn, Beardstown. Laura M. Wells, Warranty Deed to Jordan L. Barrett, Nicholas J. Cisne for Lots 7 & 8 in Exec of Francis Arenz Addn, Arenzville. Dylan Patterson, Warranty Deed to Blake A. Lawson

College, vocational school scholarships available 

  Illinois electric cooperatives will award 16 scholarships in 2024 to financially assist deserving students in the electric co-op family attending universities, 2-year and 4-year colleges, vocational/tech schools and Illinois community colleges. Each scholarship is valued at $2,000, and all will be awarded through the Thomas H. Moore Illinois Electric Cooperatives (IEC) Memorial Scholarship Program.

Trophy

BHS Fall Sports Awards

The fall sports banquet circuit continues with delicious spaghetti and fellowship courtesy of the Beardstown Elks Club.

  The latest honors went out to the dance, football, and soccer teams.  Coach Amanda Maltby passed out the following to the Fall Dance Team: Leadership Award, Dario Santos; Most Dedicated, Joyce Lomponda; Most Improved, Ayelen Borjas.

Gifts

Teaching kids about giving

On the quest to raising good humans, I realize that most people tend to use the holidays as a teachable time for kids. We encourage the need to do good for others who might have less than we do as we donate food, toys, money and help in our communities and beyond. We do this on overdrive in November and December because these months are within the “season of giving.” And while I wish this more of a year-round notion; I still jump on board with my own three kids to embrace the season as a time to do for others with no expectation of gain. Many of the best ways to help others costs nothing at all, aside from some time and effort.

Lincoln Land Community College Springfield Campus

LLCC announces new scholarships

The application period for 2024-2025 Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) Foundation Scholarships begins Nov. 15. Students planning to attend LLCC beginning in fall 2024 are encouraged to apply at llccfoundation.org/scholarships. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 15, 2024.

Trivia Too

Trivia Too – Treasures found at the river

When I was a kid, about nine years old, I was allowed to go visit friends. I was a student at Central School, which was where the grocery store is now on Fourth Street, and my friend lived right near there. On one nice summer day, we decided to go down and see the houses that were on stilts in an area that was called Schmoldtville. It was called Schmoldtville because Mr. Schmoldt had his lumber business where the softball diamond is. The houses on stilts along the end of Wall Street were over a deep, swampy area and had pieces of tin around the poles to keep the rats from climbing the poles and coming into the homes. This was the first time that I had ever seen this, and it was all very exciting to see. We continued our walk over to the edge of the river where there were no levees. Right there near the river, I really found a treasure. It was like a half shell with perfect holes in it. I sure wanted to take this home to show my parents.

Looking Back – Low-income kids lose

Two weeks ago, Illinois became the first state to abolish a major school-choice initiative. This was a moment of great sadness for my native state.

Thanks to seven Illinois Democratic members of Congress, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Democratic House Speaker Chris Welch, Democratic Senate President Don Harmon, and teachers unions, 10,000 low-income students will lose their school-choice scholarships provided through the Invest in Kids initiative.

Bits and pieces

Bits & Pieces – Copy machine vs coffee machine

We just completed our first week at our new location and we love it. The adjustment has been easy, getting everything done has been an experience. We’ve had great help by friends and we truly appreciate them. But like in all moves, there are opportunities to pitch and purge. We were also moving from a much larger building to a smaller one. We had a lot of wasted space in the other building. Now, we are learning to use our smaller space wisely.

Calendar Fall

Community Calendar

The Cass County Courthouse will be closed on the following dates: Thursday, November 23 in observance of Thanksgiving; ******    A-C Central CUSD 262 will hold its regular  meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 20 in the Board Conference Room, in Ashland. A Truth-in-Taxation Hearing will be held prior to the regular meeting.