Nancy Bullard, a Black Partridge member; Sierra Bullard, her granddaughter; and Angie Bullard, Sierra’s mother, pose with Sierra’s award-winning poster.

MACKINAW

Wine, beer festival May 26-27

Mackinaw Valley Winery will hold its annual International Music, Wine and Craft Beer Festival

May 26-27. The festival will feature more than 55 wines and more than 55 craft beers and an accompaniment of music, rain or shine, at the winery at 33633 State Route 9, Mackinaw.

Morton Community Bank is the corporate glassware sponsor and the Lions Club will sell food with proceeds going to Lions’ charities. Ropp Jersey Cheese will offer samples and sales of artisan cheese.

Admission is $10 per person and the price includes a souvenir wine glass and five tasting tickets, with additional tickets available for $1 each. Children under 12 will be admitted are free, and those ages 13-20 will be admitted for $5 per person. Hours are 11 a.m.-11 p.m. May 26 and noon-6 p.m. May 27

EAST PEORIA

Knapp to serve again as interim fire chief

John Knapp is again serving as the interim chief of the East Peoria Fire Department. He was sworn in last week to fill the chief position for Al Servis, who announced his retirement in December. Servis’ last day on the job was May 15.

Knapp’s first stint as interim chief was in 2015, after Chief William Darin retired.

Servis served on the fire department for 25 1/2 years and was promoted from deputy chief to chief in the summer of 2015. His first day as chief was Sept. 1, 2015. After serving as interim chief, Knapp returned to his position of one of three deputy chiefs in the department.

The East Peoria City Council will have to approve the permanent successor to Servis. It is likely to promote from within the department.

WASHINGTON

DAR honors local winner of poster contest

The Black Partridge Daughters of American Revolution recently honored Sierra Bullard of Washington for placing first in three levels of the Junior American Citizen (JAC) poster contest. Sierra earned a first place for fourth graders at the state level, North Central Division level and national level. She is the daughter of Jim and Angie Bullard. The theme this year was 100th Anniversary of World War I-Service on the Homefront.

Thirty JAC groups were sponsored by the Illinois DAR chapters. From those chapters, 544 children participated in the art contest by creating a stamp, banner, poster or photo. A total of 83 children participated in the Creative Expression contest, by writing a poem or short story, and 92 children participated in the Community Service contest. Illinois had 136 first-place state winners this year, and each student was presented a certificate and a JAC pin. Illinois had 127 North Central winners, and each was presented with a certificate. Illinois had 123 national winners, which included five honorable mentions, seven third-place finishes, five second-place, and 106 first-place. The national winners were presented with medallions and certificates.

Kenda Bond, the state JAC chairman, presented Sierra with her awards.

High school will have lacrosse teams

The playing of lacrosse is expanding among Central Illinois high schools, with the recent approval by the Washington School Board to add the sport to the spring 2019 roster.

Washington High School will have both boys and girls lacrosse teams.

School board members voted unanimously May 14 to launch the teams in spring 2019, ending several months of presentations by Washington Lacrosse Club officials at board meetings and board discussions about the feasibility and costs of adding lacrosse to the high school’s sports program.

The Illinois High School Association is sanctioning lacrosse for the first time this spring. The Dunlap boys team is the only program in the area. Peoria Notre Dame is seriously considering adding lacrosse.

There are 78 boys teams statewide this season, and Dunlap is the only one outside the Chicago area. Of the 61 girls teams across the state, only O’Fallon in southwestern Illinois is from outside the Chicago area.

The Washington Lacrosse Club is a Washington Park District program. It began in 2009 with 14 players and now has more than 170, including 52 high school boys and 20 high school girls. The club will drop its high school teams, but continue to offer teams for younger players, providing a feeder system for the Washington high school teams.

–Tazewell County News Briefs–