Photo of the Day - October 21, 2020

Debbie Prather and Megan Blair — Debbie Prather, Megan Blair and other timers have their fingers ready to go on their stopwatch buttons at the finish line during the 2012 Boys Spartan Classic. The group was waiting for the starters pistol to fire for next heat of the 110-yard high hurdles.
(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

SJO to hold virtual parent-teacher conferences

Instructors at St. Joseph-Ogden High School will hold Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, November 5 via an an online chat platform.

Parents are encourage to contact the high school to make appointments with their student's teachers and guidance counselor either by email or phone. Conferences will be held from 3:00 – 5:00 pm and from 6:00 – 9:00 pm that day.

With first quarter grades distributed to students on October 29-30, this will be a good opportunity for discuss student's academic performance as well as objectives for remaining quarters with teachers.

To schedule an appointment by email, contact Nicki Falls at fallsn@sjo.k12.il.us or call (217) 469-7321. Appointments must be made by November 2.

Photo of the Day - October 20, 2020

Nate Michael playing basketball for SJO — Trapped by Robinson seniors Derrick Nicholas and Aaron Siler, St. Joseph-Ogden basketball starter Nate Michael looks for an open teammate to pass the ball during their sectional semifinal contest on February 29, 2012. Michael, who grew to become a prolific scorer, was held to just a single three-pointer in the 57-32 sectional semifinal loss. He finished both his prep and college career with more than 1,000 points. As a Spartan, he drained 1,244 points, good for fifth in the program's all-time scoring list, and was the 51st Bearcat to surpass the 1K mark finishing his career with 1,528 points.
(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Scouts to rake leaves in St. Joseph

St. Joseph resident Owen Yohnka is organizing a leaf raking service project for the community. Between now and October 30, Pack 40 and Troop 40 will rake leaves for homeowners who would like their assistance.

"It's always good to help out your neighbors," Yohnka said. "The Troop used to do this years ago. This is my first time doing this."

The scouts have done similar service projects including garbage pick up along the Trail Rail and clean up after the Fall Community Festival. They also place the flags at the high school and cemetery for Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Veterans Day.

The service is being offered to anyone who need help raking their leaves. Yohnka said residents are encouraged to send their name and address or contact information for someone who would appreciate the help via email at pack40stjoseph@gmail.com. Questions regarding the raking services can be sent to this email address, too.

The service is set up to be a contact-less service for homeowners or residents. After receiving an email request, a scout and their family will visit the property over the next few weeks to rake leaves for the village to vacuum away.

"We will just show up during the date range provided and rake the leaves in a nice straight pile along the road," Yohnka wrote in a post on Facebook announcing the service.

Photo of the Day - October 19, 2020

Rachel Mullen celebrates the final point of the match in St. Joseph-Ogden's 2-1 volleyball victory on October 7, 2014. After graduation in 2015 senior and two-sport athlete went on to play volleyball at Lake Land College. In her final season with the Lakers she was 4th in digs while competing in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and 6th in service aces.
(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Easter-ween this Saturday in Ogden

The Old High School Park at 300 North Market Street in Ogden will be the site of Easter-ween this Saturday starting at 10am.

The egg hunt, originally scheduled for April 11, was postponed until this weekend due to the Shelter-in-Place Executive Orders issued by Governor Pritzker to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

In late March, Ogden trustee Sue Esposito told The News-Gazette that the village had no intent in canceling the event.

"We are going to just delay it, " she said. "So if we have an egg hunt in November or even December, whatever. ... There’s $700 worth of candy, eggs and money. That’s a lot. We’re not just going to give it up."

The Village of Ogden will provide Halloween bags to egg hunters.

Sentinel area trick-or-treat hours for Halloween 2020

Below are the hours set for trick-or-treating for Halloween 2020 in the communities The Sentinel covers.

Ogden:

Saturday, October 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Philo:

Saturday, October 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Sidney:

Saturday, October 31 from 5 to 8 p.m.

St. Joseph:

Saturday, October 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Tolono:

Saturday, October 31 from 5 to 7 p.m.

This story is amended or updated as The Sentinel receives information from village officials. Updated 10/21/20

Maybe Halloween will provide relief from the insantity

By Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

Halloween is typically a relaxed day for America's kids to fill their coffers with candy. Children and adults often don their favorite wacky attire for a day of comic relief.

America needs a day of some kind of relief and maybe Halloween will provide some insanity or terror relief. Because nothing about Halloween is as scary as what America and the world has been experiencing.

We have buried over 220,000 Americans from Covid-19. Over eight million have been sick. Nursing homes and Intensive Care Units have become horror wards. The projections for more sickness and death scare most Americans. We are afraid to go to church, out to eat, and to the grocery store. The airplane, hotel and restaurant industries are in peril as many have already closed or are on the verge of closing. Over 12 Million Americans are now unemployed and many in financial devastation because of Covid-19.

Congress continues to haggle over what and how much the government can further indebt our nation to keep us afloat for the present. With an approximate 28 trillion-dollar deficit and growing when will America file for bankruptcy? What will it take to keep Social Security and Medicare going? More taxes for a broader range of Americans and increased payroll taxes are on the near horizon, most Americans fear. It's more than a little scary.

On top of Covid-19, job loss, business failures and increasing poverty Americans are masked fatigued.

Children are tired of being home from school. Adults miss the comaraderie and social dynamics of their workmates. Working at home first felt good and welcomed but has become old for many Americans. The thought of this going on for another six months or even a year or longer is more than scary - it's terrifying.

On top of all this, we have a major election in front of us. Americans are terrified about the election. We are frightened about who will be elected. Trump being reelected terrifies millions, while millions are terrified Joe Biden will be elected. We are horrified of what may come as the result of this election and what either of the candidates may bring to America the next four years.

We are further scared by each other. The hostility of Americans toward people with different views is out of hand.

Hurting people, cursing people, destroying property are not hallmark qualities of a civilized society. We have sadly stopped being civil in America. Rude and crude are no longer shy in this nation. Pushing, shoving and outright fighting with people is becoming too normal. This is not what the average American wants and is disdained by most of us.

Let's face it, people who act this way scare most Americans.

It's Halloween time in America and there is plenty of fright to go around. The best treat we can give our country is treating each other the way we would like to be treated.

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Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.

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This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of PhotoNews Media. We welcome comments and views from our readers.

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Photo of the day - October 18, 2020

Spartans drop home game to PBL

ST. JOSEPH - Ty Pence dives after a loose ball with Paxton-Buckley-Loda senior Dalton Busboom. Pence, a freshman starter, finished the non-conference game with six points. The St. Joseph-Ogden boys squad drops the home game, after leading by one at the half, 51-42 to the Panthers on January 14, 2019.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks