Students of St. Joseph Preschool in Pekin celebrate Three Little Kitten Day by making chocolate pie. The preschool is accepting registration for the 2018-2019 school year.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS

Hospital auxiliary to award scholarships

The UnityPoint Health-Pekin Hospital Auxiliary is accepting scholarship applications from local students enrolled in a health care professions program.

Each year, the auxiliary’s scholarship committee reviews applications and awards funds based on course of study, scholarship achievements, course requirements, letters of recommendation and financial need. The committee awarded a total of $4,500 to seven local college students in 2017.

Any college student living in the Pekin area is eligible to apply. Priority is extended to those students who intend to return to the community to practice their professional skills. Scholarship applications are available online at unitypoint.org/peoria/pekin-auxiliary.aspx. Completed applications are due by 4 p.m. April 13.

EAST PEORIA

5K to raise funds for abuse prevention

A 5K run/1 mile walk, I Run with Survivors, will be held to mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April. The Center for Prevention of Abuse is hosting the event that will be held from 8 a.m.-1p.m. April 1, starting in the Levee District, 400 W. Washington St., East Peoria. Proceeds will support the center in its work to help women, men and children live free from violence and abuse. Register at register.chronotrack.com

PEKIN

Book chronicles WWII Women Army Corps

Members of the Women’s Army Corps – WACs – were the first women other than nurses to serve overseas in World War II. Illinois author Cyndee Schaffer’s mother, Mollie Weinstein Schaffer, was one of them. Her mother’s experiences inspired Schaffer to write “The Journey to Mollie’s War: The Women’s Army Corp and World War II.” She will speak about the book at 2 p.m. March 13, at the Pekin Public Library, 301 S. 4^th St.

Drawing upon excerpts from Mollie’s letters written home during the war, this presentation provides a romantic, yet frightful, glimpse into the life of a woman in uniform during this crucial time in history.

This presentation details Mollie’s experiences from basic training in Florida in October 1943 to the dramatic moment when the Statue of Liberty came into view upon her return in November 1945. It traces the footsteps of the women who served in Europe, following Mollie and her fellow WACs who were stationed in London, England, before D-Day and during the post-D-Day German buzz bomb attacks. The WACs were transferred to Normandy two months after D-Day and then to Paris after its liberation by the Allies. Finally, they traveled to Frankfurt, Germany, as part of the Army of Occupation and witnessed first-hand the devastation of that country before returning to the United States.

For more information, contact the Pekin Public Library at 347-7111, ext. 0, or go to pekinpubliclibrary.org.

Preschool accepting registration for 2018-2019 school year

St. Joseph Preschool of Pekin is celebrating its 25^th anniversary and accepting registration for the 2018-2019 school year.

St. Joseph Preschool, 300 S. Sixth St., provides a first school experience for children between the ages of 3 and 5. Two certified teachers and three teacher’s aides provide a loving environment for students to grow and learn. Through hands-on activities, such as arts and crafts, language, reading and computer activities, students gain skills needed for the school years ahead.

Programs for 3-year-old preschoolers are available from 9-11 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 12:20-2:20 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays. Programs for 4- and 5-year-old preschoolers are available from 9-11:30 a.m. and 12:20-2:50 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  The school also offers an all-day program for 4- and 5-year-old preschoolers that runs from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The preschool has before and after-school arts and crafts and library programs for parents or caregivers who may need to drop children off early or may be delayed in picking them up.

For more information or to register, visit stjosephschoolpekin.com or call 309-347-7194.

City OKs banners to honor killed, missing military

Families can get banners displayed in a Hometown Hero Banner Program that the Pekin City Council has approved.

The banners will honor any loss of life while serving active duty or MIA military personnel, and will be displayed along Parkway Drive from Sheridan Road to Court Street. The city will pay for labor to put up and take down the banners and store them, but the family or agency wanting the banner must purchase them from America’s Gold Star Families.

The banners will hang from city-owned light posts. The Parkway Drive area is the only area with enough poles owned by the city to accommodate the program.

–Tazewell County News Briefs–