Karen Fyke with the Woodford County Historical Society presented the annual James L. Fyke Memorial Service Award to Shirley Adams on Dec. 3. (Photo provided by the Woodford County Historical Society)

Woodford County

Bids being taken on vehicles seized by county

The Woodford County Sheriff’s Office will be accepting sealed bids on seized vehicles through 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18 when the bids will be opened in the Sheriff’s Office. Bids must be delivered to the Sheriff’s Office by mail or in person, the bid must be sealed and have the item number clearly written on the outside of the envelope. If bidding on multiple vehicles a separate bid must be used for each vehicle. Vehicles are on display in the north parking lot of the Woodford County Sheriff’s Office, 111 E Court st, Eureka. Appointments are recommended if wishing to see inside the vehicle or hear them run, there will be no test drives. Vehicles are sold as is and all sales are final. This is a cash only sale, any and all offers may be refused. Any vehicles purchased must be removed within five business days from the sale date, any vehicle left longer will be subject to storage fees. Anyone wanting to inspect the vehicle should contact Chief Deputy Dennis Tipsword for an appointment. The vehicles are currently posted on Craigslist. To see a vehicle list, go to the Woodford County Sheriff’s Facebook page.

Extension consumer economics team honored

Pam Atkinson, University of Illinois consumer economics educator for Livingston, McLean and Woodford counties, was honored by the National Extension Association for Family and Consumer Sciences at their 2015 annual session. Together with three of her colleagues, Atkinson and the team received a first place national award for its personal finance blog Plan Well – Retire Well.

The Internet Education Technology Communications Award recognizes web-based educational programs for their content and creativity in the field of family and consumer sciences. The award was presented at the organization’s annual conference, Nov. 2-5, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

The Plan Well, Retire Well: Saving and Investing Your Money Blog   (www.RetireWell.illinois.edu) is focused on demystifying financial topics that abound in our daily lives. The goal is to educate readers across the lifespan as financial knowledge truly requires lifelong learning.

“With our collaborative blog involving multiple writers, we are able to provide this lifelong, clarifying educational blog,” according to Atkinson.

Other members of the team include consumer economic educators Kathy Sweedler from the Champaign, Ford, Iroquois, and Vermillion county region, and Sasha Grabenstetter from the Grundy, Kankakee, and Will county region. Retired U of I educator Karen Chan, still works with the team on special projects and contributes to the blog regularly.

Team members write about a multitude of topics including: budgeting, credit and debt, health care, income taxes, investing, kids and money, retirement planning and more.

Metamora resident honored for work with WCHS

Shirley Adams, a resident of Metamora and a long-time local historian, was awarded the 2015 James L. Fyke Memorial Service Award by the Woodford County Historical Society. The honor is given to a member of the Society who has been instrumental in furthering the aims and activities of the organization.

Adams has been a member of the group for at least 40 years. She was active in moving the 1837 log house from Worth Township to its current location in Metamora’s Black Partridge Park.

Adams, along with several friends and members, worked to make a list of all the gravestones in the county’s 94 cemeteries. She has an extensive collection of vintage photographs, many of which were enlarged and hung in the Historic Metamora Courthouse.,  and has a large collection of Lincoln memorabilia, which she has shared with the courthouse for several displays. Adams also is vitally interested in the preservation of the Stevenson House in Metamora and was a founding member of the Metamora Association for Historic Preservation.

Region

Manufacturing business in East Peoria closes

Hagel Metal Fabrication Inc.,  2001 E. Washington St., East Peoria, closed Dec. 4 and at least 90 employees are now out of work. The plant had been there for 31 years. There was no explanation from company officials. Some reports said the workers were given a one-day notice of the closure. There was no notice filed with the state either, as required by law for companies employing as many people as Hagel had, according to the city of  East Peoria. The company was fined by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 2013 after an employee was killed by an automated laser-cutting machine.  OSHA subsequently placed the company on its  Severe Violator Enforcement Program, according to reports.  Prior to that accident, OSHA conducted seven inspections between 1989 and 2013, according to reports.

Youth symphony holds fund drive to commission work

The Central Illinois Youth Symphony is celebrating its 50th year by commissioning a new musical composition specifically for the organization. The piece will premiere on Sunday April 17, 2016 at Metamora High School.  John Orfe , Ph.d. of Bradley University will be writing the new composition for CIYS to be titled “Prairie Sunrise, Prairie Sunset.”  To raise funds for the piece, the CIYS is undergoing a donation drive (through the online donation platform Kickstarter) that will be active now through midnight on Thursday, Dec. 17. The goal of the donation drive is to raise $15,000, which will cover the cost of writing and producing the piece. Each donor will receive a gift and/or be recognized in the CIYS for his/her contribution to the organization and its commission.  For more information on the CIYS, its 50th anniversary, or the donation drive, contact Executive Director Amy Zordan or visit CIYS.org.

Time to register for state annual goose hunt

Youth can register now for the annual Central Illinois Youth Goose Hunt, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, scheduled for Jan. 17-18.  To register for a drawing to participate in the hunt, youth hunters must phone in to the IDNR at (217) 785-8060 by the registration deadline of Thursday, Dec. 31.  The youth goose hunt will be held at private waterfowl hunting clubs in Peoria, Fulton and Knox counties.  A lottery drawing will be conducted on Jan. 4. The hunt is open to youth ages 10-15 at the time of the hunt. To register for the hunt or for more information, call (217) 785-8060.

–Woodford County Area News Briefs–