Atlanta’s Tourism Department’s goal is to drive tourists into Atlanta and have them spend significant time in the town. There are a couple different ways that the tourism department has been able to accomplish this goal. These different methods of driving tourism in Atlanta include outreach with Facebook groups, keeping good relationships with neighboring Route 66 communities, staying in touch with other tourism departments in the region, planning special events, maintaining social media presence, and keeping visitors and tourists connected to Atlanta. 

The McLean County Fair was deemed a success by fair manager, Mike Swartz. After a “minimal” fair last year due to COVID, Swartz was very excited to see the success that the fair had this year. Last year, the fair only consisted of a private junior livestock show and seven total vendors for a food fest. With less COVID restrictions this summer, the McLean County Fair was back and better than ever. Swartz said that “Saturday was the biggest Saturday I’ve ever seen in my 17 years as the fair manager.” 

Vickie Glenn has been the village clerk for thirty years. Vickie is a Danvers Village native, having lived there her whole life. She graduated from Olympia High School. Vickie has had three children, of which all grew up in Danvers. Vickie is a family first person, so her children and grandchildren are very important to her. Vickie has been married to her husband, Dan, for forty years. All three of Vickie’s children are out of college now and have started their working careers. 

Danvers Chief of Police Michael Kemp has recently decided that he will be retiring from his position as Chief on Friday August 13. Chief Kemp has been the Chief of Police for the Village of Danvers since 2013, making many connections with locals during that period of time. Chief Kemp says, “I have greatly enjoyed every moment that I have served the citizens within our jurisdiction.” Chief Kemp was always thinking of what was best for the Village of Danvers. After eight years of being the Chief for Danvers, it is a given that a special connection between Chief Kemp and the community members has been built. 

With the end of summer arriving and the start of school getting closer and closer, there have been many questions throughout the community about what school will look like this year. Will students wear masks, will social distancing be enforced, will the COVID vaccination be required, will students have to quarantine? All of these questions were answered at Olympia’s recent board meeting. 

The 8th annual 6.6k Run/Walk will take place on Saturday, August 28th in McLean. This run/walk is sponsored by CORE of McLean, a nonprofit organization for the benefit of the community of McLean. The 6.6k on Route 66 will be a point-to-point run/walk that starts in Funks Grove, with a shuttle service provided from McLean to Funks Grove. The participants will then run or walk on Route 66 to the new park under the old water tower in McLean. The new park in McLean was funded by previous proceeds from the 6.6k on Route 66. 

Vacation Bible School is a program that many churches offer nationwide. The purpose of this program is to incorporate enjoyable activities that entertain the children, while also giving them an opportunity to learn more about their religion. Vacation Bible School is an easy way to get kids involved in church. Typically, Vacation Bible School is about a week-long event that takes place in the summer. During this week-long event, children usually attend around three or four hours each day. 

The Minier Corn Daze is a festival held in Minier by the Olympia Kiwanis Club. This year, the Corn Daze will be held on Saturday, July 31st and Sunday, August 1st. There will be many different activities that can be enjoyed by attendees. On Saturday, there will be a Softball Tourney and a Fire Department Water Fight. Sunday will have, “all the sweet corn you can eat”, a Cruise-in, tractor pulls, a community church service at 10 AM, a vendor fair, a pedal tractor race, a lawn mower tractor pull, multiple events for kids, a car show, live music, and lots of food. 

On July 4th, Americans celebrate the birth of American independence. The Fourth of July has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of the holiday goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution. On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 British Colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence. 

This week’s edition of “Meet the Chief” features the Chief of Police for the Stanford Police Department, Chief Dustin Carter. Chief Carter grew up around Hoopeston and Leroy and has been around law enforcement his whole life. His father was also a Chief of Police and being in a household that focused on public safety made it feel very natural for Chief Carter to pursue a career in law enforcement. Chief Carter obtained his bachelor’s degree from Lincoln College with a major in Business Management and a minor in Criminal Justice. Although Chief Carter understood that law enforcement was not for everyone, he saw it as his calling. 

Hopedale is a village in Tazewell County that has a lot of history in its past. The first settler of Hopedale was Aaron Orendorff, in the fall of 1827. When he discovered the village, Orendorff first named it Osceola, but later found out that there was already a town in Illinois named Osceola, so the name was then changed to Hopedale. Aaron Orendorff’s youngest granddaughter, Lydia Orendorff, was the town’s first telephone operator and organized the “Hopedale Chapter of Eastern Star and was their first worthy matron.” Lydia Orendorff’s family still owns the original map of Hopedale to this day. Staying in the Orendorff family, Lydia’s uncle, Thomas Orendorff, was in charge of creating the town’s first ever post office in 1852, organizing the first ever bank of Hopedale, and even gave the town it's then 20-acre park. The Orendorff family was also in charge of adding a sawmill, a woolen mill, a lumber yard, a furniture store, and a public hall. The family not only discovered the village of Hopedale, but they also helped set the foundation for a successful small town. 

The Olympia Kiwanis Club is a part of the global Kiwanis organization of volunteers that are “dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community at a time.” The Olympia Kiwanis Club sponsors a bunch of different events throughout the year that bring the community together. A few of these events are a house decorating contest around Christmas, a Christmas parade, The Olympia Kiwanis Corn Daze, and community Easter Egg Hunts. The Olympia community has always enjoyed these events that the Kiwanis Club puts on. 

Illinois fully reopened and moved into Phase 5 of the state’s reopening plan last Friday. The continuously declining COVID infection rates and the continuously increasing vaccination rates is what made Governor J.B. Pritzker pull the trigger on moving into the state’s full reopening phase. Although Phase 5 does include the full reopening of Illinois, not quite all of the COVID restrictions have been lifted. According to the governor, entry into Phase 5 “will mean businesses, large-scale events, conventions, amusement parks, and seated-spectator venues, among others, will be able to operate at full capacity for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Danvers Township Library sponsors a couple different summer reading programs each summer. This summer, there are programs for 0-4 years of age, 5-12 years of age, 13-17 years of age, and 18 or older. The Danvers Township Library welcomes children, teens, and adults to sign up for these summer reading programs, where they will be eligible to compete for a selection of prizes. Signing up for the summer reading programs has been made very simple by the library. Going to danverstownshiplibrary.com/programs will provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to sign up for each of the summer reading programs. All it takes is downloading an app, finding the Danvers Township Library on the app, registering your account, then you just track your reading through the app. This easily accessible reading program is a great way to maintain a great habit over the summer. 

On Tuesday, the Armington Village Board had a meeting to discuss the future of their police department. The cause for this decision on the future of the police department was the change in the way Tazwell county bills communities for 911 dispatch service. They used to bill communities based on the number of 911 calls handled from that community. Now they are billed on a flat rate, regardless of the number of calls. The 911 dispatch bill for Armington went from $1,800 annually to $8,300 annually with the change. With this drastic increase in cost, a decision to either keep or cut the police department had to be made. 

The Hopedale Betterment Association is an organization that seeks to serve and improve the quality of life in Hopedale. They run the Hopedale Happenings Facebook page that shares information about upcoming “happenings” in Hopedale. With the Hopedale Happenings Facebook page, the Hopedale Betterment Association is able to provide a very open source for communication amongst Hopedale community members, giving them even just a slightly increased quality of living. The Hopedale Betterment Association also offers a $500 scholarship to high school seniors within the Olympia School District. They also have sponsored town-wide garage sales, euchre tournaments, Hopedale birthday calendars, farmers market, maintained Hopedale Business Directory, and donated to the village for flowers planted on Main Street. 

Cyberbullying is defined as, “the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.” Cyberbullying has been a frequently discussed issue over the last decade. Bullying has been taking place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets on apps such as SMS, Text, and social media, and has had a direct impact on teenagers all over the world for many years.

The Danvers Lions Club is a community non profit organization in Danvers, that does many different things for the community. The Danvers Lions Club is part of The Lions Club International, which has over 48,000 different clubs all over the world. The main goal of all of these different clubs around the world is to “take action and serve the people in their communities.” The Lions Club International focuses on five global causes, diabetes, vision, hunger, environment, and childhood cancer. The Danvers Lions Club has been working hard to bring positivity into our local communities recently, and there has been a lot of appreciation from community members. 

Atlanta’s Tourism Department’s goal is to drive tourists into Atlanta and have them spend significant time in the town. There are a couple different ways that the tourism department has been able to accomplish this goal. These different methods of driving tourism in Atlanta include outreach with Facebook groups, keeping good relationships with neighboring Route 66 communities, staying in touch with other tourism departments in the region, planning special events, maintaining social media presence, and keeping visitors and tourists connected to Atlanta. 

Ethan Davis is a senior at Olympia High School that has been having one impressive year in his sports. Ethan has been a three-sport athlete since his freshman year, playing football, basketball, and baseball. This year, Ethan has had some very impressive performances. In basketball, Ethan broke the single game record for points in a game with 42 points. In football, he broke the single game record for rushing yards with 371 yards. Ethan is not just a one game wonder, he has been a great athlete and leader for Olympia for many years. 

The third seat for the Danvers Village Trustee was recently voted on and is locked in at a tie of 78 between Bill Lally and Mike Deavers. A village trustee initiates conversation, then considers the residents’ viewpoint and votes on issues that affect the everyday life of residents, businesses, and property owners. These include economic development, public safety, road improvements and property conditions. The village board also addresses any concerns raised by residents but without a great group of village trustees, the village board may never hear any concerns from residents.

Local Tarzan’s Compassionate Wildlife Solutions is a local wildlife rescue organization, based out of Bloomington, run by Chase Cavalera. Chase has a background in veterinary medicine, wildlife, and private investigation. He says that “these skills have pointed me in the direction of my true calling, that is, answering the call of the wild yet voiceless.” Chase operates as “the investigator, the negotiator, the ambulance, and the short-term nurse” for wild animals in need. This has all been made possible for Chase by the Department of Natural Resources, who authorized him to be able to work with wildlife. 

The Waynesville American Legion has been a large part of the Waynesville community for several years. They hold different events such as their cheeseburger nights, St Patty’s Day Party, trivia nights, chilli cookoffs, the Olympia Progressive Baseball Association’s fundraising night, the Cash Bash, and many more different events or fundraisers. Waynesville natives and area locals have enjoyed these different events throughout the years. Township Supervisor Cathy Cisco said, “Waynesville needs this organization in our community. They provide the building for so many different events.”

Cancer has impacted everyone in life in one way or another. On April 13, 2019, the Fry family from Mackinaw headed to the emergency room for their son, Reed’s, headache. They thought it might just be a concussion or a migraine. That’s when they had heard news that no family ever wants to hear, a CT scan showed that Reed had a large tumor on the back of his brain. 

The Olympia Pacesetters 4-H Club members have recently installed Emergency Mini Food Pantries [EMFP] in the Olympia School District in Stanford, Danvers, Minier, OHMS, Hopedale, and Waynesville. They have also added one just outside the district in Carlock. 4-H members involved in this project are known as the Hunger Ambassadors; youth that are passionate about fighting rural hunger. This group built their first ever EMFP in 2018 in Stanford, and have been working ever since then to build a network of these pantries in the greater McLean County area.