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. 

Our community spotlight for the week highlights CORE of McLean. The nonprofit organization is made up of a small group of volunteers who are dedicated to bringing more pride, life, and activity into the town of McLean. CORE President, Katie Funk, stated “We want to make McLean a great place to live as well as a community that attracts visitors and businesses.” Along with President Katie Funk, CORE’s other board members are Jeff Hake, Vice President, and Tom Ludlam, Treasurer. The small group of volunteers help with the organization’s projects and events. The organization’s motto is: Pride in our Past, Progress in the Present, Prosperity in the Future. Katie Funk has been involved with CORE since 2013 and has been their President since 2017. While discussing her involvement with the organization, Funk proclaimed, “My favorite part is seeing people enjoying the fruits of our efforts, whether that's taking a photo in front of our mural, admiring the beautiful flowers on the square, or having a great time at our run/walk. Seeing people's smiles is always the best part.”

McLean’s Ebenezer United Methodist Church celebrates their 150th anniversary! A committee was set up to plan events for this whole year to celebrate, but like many other things, the pandemic forced the church to halt their plans. One thing from the agenda that was able to be accomplished was a history book that holds information from the start of the church to current day. The book is available to be seen in the church and contains interesting artifacts. These artifacts include: pictures, recipes, and items from events such as weddings, Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving celebrations. 

Looking for a good, quality daycare for your children? Then look no further. Sonshine Daycare in McLean is a ministry of the McLean United Methodist Church community which exists to provide quality child care in a Christian environment for children in McLean and the surrounding communities. Sonshine was established in July 1993 at the Methodist church, but then as it grew, expanded and now housed in the Mt. Hope-Funks Grove Park District (old grade school) building since June 2006. The Olympia school district provides bus transportation to and from the daycare for all children attending Olympia South. The hours of operation are 7 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday.

Eric Fulk joined the Mt. Hope-Funks Grove Fire Department on January 8th, 2000. After years of hard work and determination, he was hired as a full-time EMT and promoted to Fire Chief on May 1st, 2011. As a young boy, Fulk spent many hours around other family members in the fire service including his late father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He was extremely proud that his father was instrumental in bringing Advance Life Support to McLean County.

Veterans Day is a day to celebrate our American heroes, acknowledging their sacrifice and thanking them for their service. The McLean Legion Auxiliary does this through their annual Veterans’ Day dinner. This year the dinner was held on Thursday, November 11th and took place at the Mount Hope Community Hall. At this dinner they served turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, rolls, choice of apple or cranberry sauce, desserts, and drinks. Any veteran who attended this dinner ate this meal for free. Otherwise, the dinner was $12 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.