By Ben Cox/The Source
Franklin FFA members honored at state convention
Members of the Franklin FFA chapter attended the 97th annual Illinois FFA State Convention June 10-12 along with more than 5,000 other FFA members, advisors and guests. With a 2025 theme of “The Final Mission,” the three-day event annually recognizes achievements of Illinois FFA members, elects the major state officer team and celebrates agriculture. During the convention, the following awards were presented to Franklin FFA.
Illinois State FFA Degree: Levi Allen and Collin Johnson
were conferred with State FFA Degrees by the Illinois Association for meeting all requirements including productive financial investments and earnings in a supervised agricultural experience and FFA participation, leadership and academic excellence. The State FFA Degree is the highest achievement an FFA member can achieve in Illinois; less than 2% of members statewide earn this prestigious recognition.
2025-2026 Section 14 President: Collin Johnson was installed as the President of Illinois FFA’s Section 14. The 25 newly installed Section Presidents are members of the 2025-2026 Illinois State Officer Team.
Wildlife Protection & Management State Proficiency Winner: Carson Ford was selected as the State FFA Proficiency Winner in Wildlife Production and Management. Carson is the son of Jason and Aleece Ford. He is a member of the Franklin FFA Chapter, advised by
Kaitlyn Kane and Brent Nelson. For his Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), Carson started Ford Food Plots to enhance local wildlife activity. He works for his dad on 30 acres of timberland used for hunting game. Carson’s goal is to bring the area back to life by maintaining and enhancing the land and providing top-notch hunting land to his family and others. He uses cover crops in the food plots and plants a perennial mixture. Properly caring for the crops allows for optimal growth and increased animal activity. Carson does not harvest the crops; instead, they are eaten by animals, mowed over, and left to increase the local wildlife population.
Discovery Star Farmer: Claire Harris was selected as the 2025 State Discovery Star Farmer. Claire is the daughter of Jay and Mary Beth Harris. She is a member of the Franklin FFA Chapter, advised by Kaitlyn Kane and Brent Nelson. For her Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), Claire has two businesses. Harris Breeding Sheep is a successful breeding program she built with the animals she raised, sold and showed. Claire raises
Dorset, Dorset Advantage and Southdown lambs. She keeps ewes to be bred and raise successful offspring, as well as structurally sound and highest-performing ram lambs to add to the breeding program. Claire has learned how to identify desirable show animals to develop. Harris Market Sheep is an extension of the breeding program. She feeds lambs to market weight and sells them for their meat. She raises others to be successful and competitive show wethers. Claire plans to continue growing her hours, income and skills.
Students at the convention were greeted with activities including a career fair featuring colleges and agribusinesses and an opportunity to engage in the history of Illinois’ capital city. The sessions featured addresses by National
FFA President Thaddeus Bergschneider of Illinois and from each of the retiring major state officers.
Winchester School Board installs three new members
The Winchester School Board had three vacancies on their board to fill after the April Consolidated Election. The board filled all three of those open seats at its May 28 board meeting. Bethany Doolin, Lori Ballard and Nicole Dorsey were installed.
Eric Peterson was the only incumbent to fill a chair. He is now the board’s president. Winchester does not have an at-large school board, meaning that there must be equal representation from divided voting districts. There remains one board vacancy as of press time.
City recovering from tornado
The northwest portion of Jacksonville and northern Morgan County are recovering from a tornado touchdown on June 18.
Several buildings and homes were severely damaged or destroyed, but no injuries have been reported. Ameren-Illinois lineman worked to restore a lengthy power outage that lasted over 6 hours in some cases for residents. At one point during the day on June 18, over 11,000 homes were without power, affecting 76% of Morgan County. The storm system left a trail of damage as it moved east, also affecting homes in western Sangamon County, northern Macoupin County and areas as far east as the Illinois-Indiana border.
JPD begins Fourth of July traffic enforcement campaign
The Jacksonville Police Department has announced its annual campaign to keep the city’s roads and streets safe during the Fourth of July holiday. The enforcement campaign will focus on impaired, distracted and unbuckled drivers. The safety campaign will run from June 20 through July 7 to encompass three summer weekends leading up to and after Independence Day.
“We’re asking all of our residents and visitors to celebrate Independence Day safely,” said Jacksonville Police Chief Doug Thompson. “It’s simple: If you’re driving, don’t drink or use cannabis or other impairing substances. Our officers will be working diligently to keep impaired drivers off the road and ensure everyone is buckled up.”
JPD will join the Illinois State Police and over 200 other law enforcement agencies around the state during the annual enforcement campaign.
Calvary Cemetery Tour scheduled
“Honoring the Lives and Legacies of Jacksonville’s Catholics” is the next cemetery tour being offered on Sunday, June 29, at 2 p.m. Led by local historian Greg Olson, the tour of Calvary Cemetery on Lincoln Avenue will include a brief history of the cemetery and will stop at the gravesites of former Our Saviour Parish priests and pastors and members of the Routt family, who helped establish what is today Routt Catholic High School. The tour is free and open to the public and is being held in commemoration of Jacksonville’s 200th anniversary. A Diamond Grove Cemetery tour is slated for September 28.
MCS Community Services received award for weatherization program
MCS Community Services has received the 2025 Illinois Home Weatherization Association Program Award for Exceptional Performance, a prestigious recognition of its outstanding accomplishments in delivering weatherization services during the 2025 program year.
This award highlights MCS’s leadership as one of the top-performing agencies in Illinois in terms of funding spent and services delivered — a notable achievement given the challenges faced with the rollout of a new weatherization system earlier this year.
Jeremy Fennewald, executive director of MCS, praised his team for their resilience and commitment: “This award is a testament to the incredible dedication and grit of our Weatherization team. Even when facing systemic and logistical setbacks, they never lost sight of our goal — getting essential services to those who need them most. I could not be more proud of their perseverance, professionalism, and heart.”
The MCS Weatherization Program helps low-income families, seniors and individuals with disabilities improve the energy efficiency, comfort and safety of their homes. Services include insulation, air sealing, HVAC improvements and other energy-saving upgrades-all designed to lower utility bills and increase home safety.
Elks Lodge holds annual Flag Day Ceremony
Members of Jacksonville’s Elks Lodge 682 continued the lodge’s tradition during a Flag Day ceremony June 14 of saluting the national flag and the men and women who have served it.
“With great joy, we joined the more than 1,800 Elks lodges nationwide in celebrating patriotism and national pride in our national emblem,” said James Lomelino, exalted ruler of the local organization who presided over the ceremony.
“We are grateful to the men and women of the Jacksonville police and fire departments, emergency services, and Morgan County Sheriff’s office, who were with us for the celebration.”
With Lodge officers and those who attended saluting, the banner was raised as Derek Bartolazzi sang the Star Spangled Banner. Lomelino said Elks have observed Flag Day since President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 proclaimed June 14 Flag Day, the anniversary of the date in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the 13-starred banner as the national flag.
President Harry S. Truman, whom Lomelino said was an Elk himself, made the day an official national day of observance by legislation he signed into law in 1949. With 1,063 members, the Jacksonville Elks Lodge is the largest in Illinois. Thirty men and women have joined the lodge during the most recent quarter. Lomelino believes the continued growth reflects the organization’s principles of charity, justice, brotherly love, and fidelity.
Elks volunteers live those virtues, Lomelino said, by supporting America’s veterans, youth, community investment, and drug awareness programs. The lodge this spring sponsored Jacksonville school student Jacob Williams, winner for the second consecutive year of the Jacksonville Elks Hoop Shoot contest. He placed first in the Regional Elks Hoop Shoot and finished ninth in the National Elks Hoop Shoot.
Winchester Civic Group shifting focus
Leaders of the Winchester Civic Group have recently announced a shift in focus of the group’s initiatives. Winchester Civic Group President Jackie Kuchy told the Winchester City Council at their June 4 meeting the group would spend its resources coordinating community events, as well as fundraising for targeted community beautification efforts.
Citing a lack of manpower and some recent burnt bridges with local businesses, Kuchy said they hope to centralize focus on fundraising efforts. The Scott County Times reported that Kuchy says the group is going to focus its first efforts on Douglas Park where the group hosts its Music in the Park series. The downtown concert series is in its tenth season.
Kuchy suggested that the city government revitalize some committees to help work on business promotion, tourism and parks and recreation to take up some of the other pieces that the Civic Group has previously dabbled in but simply doesn’t have the manpower now to facilitate. For more information on the Winchester Civic Group, visit the group’s Facebook page.
Pikeland community advocates to General Assembly for changes at Woodson-Winchester road intersection
Several members of the Pikeland Schools community as well as surrounding community members have signed a petition to see changes on U.S. 67 at the Woodson-Winchester Road intersection after two teenagers were killed at the intersection nearly three weeks ago.
A petition to add rumble strips and increased signage to the intersection has circulated Pike County and surrounding counties, garnering hundreds of signatures. The petition was hand-delivered to Deputy Governor Andy Manar in Springfield on June 20 by members of the Pikeland Schools community.
A letter describing the petition asking for the safety enhancements have also been given to State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer, State Senator Jil Tracy, and Illinois Department of Transportation Director Gia Biagi.
The petitions were signed at several businesses and locations in the surrounding area including the Jacksonville Chrysler-Dodge dealership, Brantzel’s Coffee & Creamery in White Hall, the Triangle Bar in Woodson, the Farmers Bank in Winchester and multiple locations in and around Pittsfield, according to a report by WLDS News. The intersection has been the site of several traffic crashes, some fatal, over the last two decades.
Two South Jacksonville officers honored by local FOP Lodge
Two South Jacksonville Police officers were honored by the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge for life-saving efforts south of Jacksonville earlier this month.
Officers Andrew Fanshier and Marissa Mueller responded to a subject pinned under a lawnmower in a creek. The call was placed from the Timbercreek Subdivision, located south of the South Jacksonville Police Department’s patrol jurisdiction, according to state FOP lodge field coordinator Jerry Leib.
Both officers were the first to arrive at the scene. Officer Fanshier lifted the mower off of the male victim while Officer Mueller pulled the victim to safety, according to Leib during the award presentation ceremony at the Village of South Jacksonville board meeting on June 17.
Both officers then checked the man for injuries and stabilized him until ambulance units arrived. South Jacksonville Police Chief Eric Hansell says the man had about 15 broken ribs, a punctured lung and severe burns on their body from the mower’s engine and muffler as it had fallen several feet into the creek bed.
Both officers received commemorative plaques from Leib and a round of applause from the audience in attendance for their life-saving efforts.
