Year in reivew: Part 2
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JULY
The city of Carrollon recently learned that their application for an Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) grant for construction of bike/pedestrian path had been approved. The grant is to construct a one-mile, 10-foot-wide asphalt path along the defunct railroad line which will connect the city’s three parks. The total amount of the grant award is $465,536 and is an 80/20 grant which means the state will provide 80 percent of the funding and the city 20 percent of the funding.
A coaching trio from White Hall and a North Greene softball standout have led their traveling softball team to a second consecutive win in one of the most elite tournaments in the state. Midwest Adrenaline, coached by Travis Dunlap and assisted by his father, Bill Dunlap and his sister, Jessie Evans, along with Chad Hopkins from Lewistown, won the USA Softball of Illinois State Tournament in the 18U, B division in a three-day tournament held in Decatur July 8-11.
Carrollton School Board honored members of the trap team at the July school board meeting for their outstanding showing at SCTP Nationals in Marengo, Ohio. The trap team consists of both junior high and high school players. The team is coached by Jim Cox.
AUGUST
Faith Baptist Church in Carrollton has installed a Blessings Box on the north side of their church, located in the 1000 block of Third Street. The Blessings Box contains non-perishable food items and is for anyone in the community, not just the poor, not just the elderly – anyone.
Greenfield School Board has the distinction of being the first district in the county to pass a resolution affirming local board control of Covid-19 mitigation measures for the 2021-22 school year.
North Greene Superintendent Mark Scott conducted a public meeting on Aug. 5 to discuss the Back to School plan and the more than $4.7 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding the district has, or will be receiving. There has been three rounds of funding totaling $4,744,301 to the district.
Greene County Health Department (GCHD) Public Health Administrator Molly Peters addressed the Judiciary Committee of the Greene County Board asking the Committee to present to the full board a proposal that the county fund the Health Department employee’s health insurance and increase the amount of money Registered Nurses are paid.
Rep. Rodney Davis announced that the County will receive a $191,000 Community Facilities Disaster Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Office for a replacement of their courthouse HVAC system.
Greenfield Superintendent Kevin Bowman informed the Greenfield School Board at the Aug. 16 meeting that the new football lights would be ready for Friday night’s scrimmage game.
Carrollton School District received a $2,500 grant recently from the America’s Farmer’s Grow Communities (AFGC) program which they will use to pay for the Pixellot Camera System installed in both the gym and on the football field that will allow life streaming of events held in the gym and on the football field.
SEPTEMBER
The city of Roodhouse will be honoring one of its most outstanding citizens and one of its longest practicing physicians, Dr. Ludwig Dech, with the placing of a huge Memorial Rock in the park at a ceremony on Sept. 3 at 3 p.m. Dr. Dech passed away on July 25, 2019 at the age of 92, after serving the Roodhouse and surrounding community for 43 years before his retirement at the age of 74.
Everyone seems to have forgotten that Greene County was founded in the year 1821, but the descendants of the Gregory family have not forgotten that the family homestead was founded 200 years ago in 1821 by Col. Charles Gregory. They have chosen to celebrate its 200th anniversary by opening up the homestead to visitors during Greene County Days, Sept. 10-12.
Rep. Rodney Davis announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Grant in the amount of $99,000 has been awarded to the city of Carrollton along with a $413,260 Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). This grant will be used to construct a new bike path to bring pedestrian traffic into the city’s business district. Carrollton will contribute a local match of $4,450. The total project cost is $516,700.
Greene County approved the purchase of a 1999 used ambulance with only 76,000 to take the place of a 2013 ambulance that has been down for several months.
It has taken more than two years to come to fruition, but Friday afternoon, the City of Carrollton and a host of other dignitaries officially broke ground for the new water tower that is being erected on the west side of town by the FS plant.
Carrollton senior Harley Angel scored 204 yards Friday night against the North Greene Spartans, breaking a 20-year record set by Chad Flowers in 2001 when he scored 195 yards in a single game. But here is the kicker (no pun intended), Angel did it in only half a game! He did not even play in the second half of the game.
North Greene School Board approved the formation of a new organization at the high school called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). The only thing a student needs to do to be a member of the organization is to participate in one or more athletic activities during the school year.
Dr. Sally Arnett Hartwick, a graduate of Carrollton High School, has been inducted into the Illinois State University (ISU) 2021 Hall of Fame.
OCTOBER
Carrollton Mayor Mike Snyder announced Monday that County Market has pulled out of their partnership to provide groceries to the community from their store in Girard.
Rodney Knittel was presented with a plaque of appreciation at the September Greenfield school board meeting by the board for his many years of service on the school board. Knittel resigned his position on the board after moving out of the district.
The people asked and the Dairy Bar in Carrollton has listened! Owners Ken and Shaana made the announcement recently that the popular eatery, located on the Carrollton Square, will remain open throughout the winter months – a first for Carrollton’s oldest ice cream shop and eating establishment.
The Greene County Historical Society recently received a book on the history of the Reif family dating back to the day they first landed in America. The book was written by Clarence Reif, and donated to the Historical society by Clara Reif Halliday, both are the great-great grand children of Joseph and Anna Reif.
The sky was ominous looking for most of Monday, but by Monday afternoon, it turned wicked and a funnel cloud dipped out of the sky and ripped through the buildings on the Wright Farm in the tiny community of Wrights turning several buildings into a heap of twisted metal and destroying several pieces of farming equipment in the process
Thomas H. Boyd Hospital purchased the old IGA building back in November of 2020, but until not, nothing really note-worthy has occurred to stir the public interest. But in the past few weeks, there has been significant progress can be seen on the outside, including a large hole dug on the south side of the building which will be the new enclosed therapy pool in the very near future.
Thomas H. Boyd Hospital CEO Debbie Campbell announced that they are relocating the White Hall Rural Health Clinic. Currently located in the back of Pharmacy Plus, located at 116A N. Main St., the new location will be in the Medical Building on the hospital campus located at 727 Ninth St. in Carrollton.
The big news shared at the Greenfield School Board meeting on Oct. 18 was a video that has come out on YouTube recently. The video is by the Bayer Corporation and features the Greenfield FFA who received a $5,000 grant from Bayer through the Bayer Fund’s America’s Farmers Grow Communities.
NOVEMBER
After more than a decade as a bed and breakfast, along with wedding and event venue, Greene Gables Inn in White Hall has been sold and is being turned back into a private residence.
Illinois Valley Economic Development Corporation (IVEDC) has named Stephanie Stalhut as its new Executive Director replacing Mike Kelly who retired from the position in June after serving as director for around three years. Stalhut has been acting as interim director since Kelly’s departure, but was officially named as Executive Director on Oct. 7.
Greene County’s food dessert just got a little greener this week with the opening of the Market on Main on Monday, Nov. 1. The store is owned by Carrollton residents Jerry and Sue Schmidt, who also own the Grain Bin, and is located on the south side of the Carrollton Square next to the JCH Clinic.
The Greene County Health Department rolled out the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine Friday for children between the ages of 5-12.
Caleb Uhles was the first pediatric patient to receive the vaccine. He is the son of Dr. James and Amelia Uhles of Carrollton. His twin brother, Noah, also received the vaccine along with 10 other children who came in from throughout the county.
Roodhouse city crews were hard at work Monday afternoon on the new park pavilion in Roodhouse. Hopefully the new 20’x24’ pavilion will be finished in time for Christmas in the Park, which is Nov. 29.
The interior of the Rural Health Clinic in Carrollton, located across from Boyd Hospital, is taking place in preparation for the welcoming of the new offices of Dr. Michael McNear and Nurse Practitioner Kendall Brown, who will begin seeing patients in the building shortly.
Christ United Methodist Church in White Hall welcomed a new minister to the pulpit this past Sunday. Chris Williams took over the duties as pastor from Tracy Armstrong, who was doing double duty as pastor at Christ UMC and Carrollton UMC as well as being Chaplain at the hospital in Quincy.
Tucked away inside Thomas H. Boyd Memorial Hospital is what one might call a truly “hidden gem”. Heart Strings Gift Shop has been in operation for around seven years now, yet most people don’t even know it is there. The gift shop was started by Cathy Handlin, X-ray Supervisor, and Sarah Flowers, an X-ray technician.
DECEMBER
Carrollton Superintendent Mark Halwachs said he is currently in conversations with Rankin Technical College about partnering with them in a program at Carrollton High School.
Once described as the “black hole of the county” the Greene County Courthouse now shines as a Beacon of Hope in the county after accenting lighting has been added thanks to donations from many individuals and businesses.
The Veteran’s Memorial Walkway is looking for names of veterans, both past and present, to be included on the memorial stones that will be erected on the courthouse lawn, hopefully next fall. Getting a name added to the memorial stone costs $100.
The number of positive COVID cases in Greene County almost tripled over the Thanksgiving holiday according to the weekly report by the Greene County Health Department.
Spire STL Pipeline has been granted approval to continue to operate through the winter months after Spire appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower-court ruling earlier this year that revoked the pipeline’s authorization to operate.
This coming Saturday, Dec. 18, from 10 a.m. to noon, the Greenfield Public Library will be celebrating their 31st anniversary of the “new” library with a reception and basket raffle.
Thomas H. Boyd Foundation and Thomas H. Boyd Memorial Hospital are working together to raise $240,000 for the new therapeutic pool that will be installed in the new Thomas H. Boyd Memorial Therapy and Wellness Center located in the old Carrollton IGA building.
After only one year in business, Billy’s Furniture Clearance Center in White Hall is closing after losing its lease on what was the former ALCO building. The building sat empty for the better part of almost seven years before Billy McCurley and his chain of furniture stores decided to take a chance and open a store in what was McCurley’s former hometown.
In an effort to gain points on their grant application, the City of Carrollton has committed a total of $200,000 of local funding to go along with the $2.1 million in funding they are applying for through the Rebuild Downtowns and Main Streets Capital Grant program.
Becky Terpening was the lucky winner of the Greenfield Library Hometown Basket at the basket raffle held at the library’s 31st anniversary.. This basket contained over $600 worth of merchandise and gift certificates from local businesses in the area purchased by the library board to say thank you to those who have patronized the library for all these many years.
The Greenfield High School computer lab will be getting 30 new computers after the Greenfield School Board approved the purchase of 30 new computers at the Dec. 21 school board meeting.
The Greene County Health Department is now providing a one-day clinic in Roodhouse for its Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program. The clinic is located on the square in Roodhouse in the former office of Dr. Randy Voigts, just down from the Post Office.
