Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News
Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
MURRAY, KY – (Holly Kee, Benton Evening News. Please click on the link above for the full story. Here is an excerpt below.)
An explosion in a vacant dormitory on Wednesday rocked the campus of Murray State University in Kentucky — a school popular with southern Illinois students.
Hannah Eubanks of West Frankfort graduated from MSU in May and is spending the summer in her apartment in Murray before beginning a teaching job in Frankfort, Kentucky in the fall.
Press Release from the Gary Sinise Foundation
The Gary Sinise Foundation will be holding a dedication of a specially adapted smart home built for U.S. Army Sargent First Class Jared Bullock, (Retired) from Carbondale.
The dedication will take place on Thursday, June 29th at 10:00 a.m. on the site where his home constructed at 1407 Hickory Trail Road in Carbondale. The ceremony will last around 90 minutes.
United States Army Sergeant First Class Jared Bullock (Ret.) was profoundly impacted by the attacks on September 11, 2001. Two years later, he and his twin brother enlisted in the Army together. After serving two tours in Iraq, Bullock began training for Special Forces. He received a Green Beret and on October 13, 2013, Bullock was deployed to Afghanistan.
Exactly one month later, while on a routine patrol, Bullock’s ATV ran over an improvised explosive device (IED). Though he survived, he was severely injured, losing his right arm above the elbow and his right leg above the knee. Once Bullock was stable, he was flown to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX where he underwent 30 surgeries. The Gary Sinise Foundation is proud to build Bullock, his wife Jesica, and their son Aidan a specially adapted smart home through its R.I.S.E. program.
Gary Sinise Foundation’s R.I.S.E. program (Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment), along with our donors, including The Marcus Foundation, Inc., The Home Depot Foundation, Semper Fi Fund and Larry & Phyllis Castrale as well as our building partners, Shubert Design Furniture, CORE Brands, National Wood Flooring Association, National Tile Contractors Association, Sunbelt Rentals, National Association of Home Builders, Benjamin Moore, North American Van Lines, GE, Broan-NuTone, MAPEI, Kohler, Crossville Tile, MIA+BSI The Natural Stone Institute, James Hardie, American Airlines, and T. Scott Williams Builders will join the Carbondale, Illinois community in this home dedication ceremony for U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jared Bullock and his family.
The simple tasks of everyday life — climbing stairs, reaching a high shelf, getting in and out of the bathroom — are easy to take for granted. Because they’re done without a second thought, it’s impossible to imagine an inability to perform them. But that’s often the reality for our severely wounded heroes, where basic tasks are impossible obstacles and the enduring ambition of rehabilitation is to achieve a semblance of normalcy. Under its R.I.S.E. program, the Gary Sinise Foundation is building specially adapted smart homes for our nation’s most severely wounded veterans. We are constructing these one-of-a-kind homes all across the country, each for a wounded hero, their caregivers, and families. With a place to truly call home, they will now be able to move forward with their lives.
The Gary Sinise Foundation honors America’s defenders, veterans, first responders, their families and those in need. Through its R.I.S.E. program (Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment), specially adapted smart homes are being constructed for severely wounded veterans nationwide. Each one-of-a-kind home is customized to ease the everyday burdens of a wounded hero, their family, and caregivers. Other programs include Relief & Resiliency Outreach, Invincible Spirit Festivals, Gary Sinise & the Lt. Dan Band, Arts & Entertainment Outreach, Serving Heroes, and First Responders Outreach. Its latest program, Soaring Valor, is sending WWII veterans to The National WWII Museum and documenting their first-hand accounts of the war. For more information, please visit GarySiniseFoundation.org
http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id973.html
The white building is believed to be Buckner High School which sit next to the grade school which burned a few years ago. (Genealogy Trails website.
NOTE: I will be sharing links from time to time from the website, Illinois High School Glory Days. It is a website dedicated to schools that have consolidated in Illinois.
Please click on the link above for several news clippings and photos about Buckner High School.
I am a history buff. I would like to share stories in the future of some of the consolidated grade schools and one room schoolhouses that use to dot the landscape of Franklin County.
Here are some excerpts about the Buckner Wildcats.
Buckner (population 479) is located in far south-central Illinois in the west-central portion of Franklin County. Buckner is located on Illinois Route 14 about three miles west of Interstate Route 57. The Illinois Central Railroad also passes through Buckner and runs parellel with Illinois Route 14. The city of Benton is located about 4 miles east of Buckner.
It was in 1880 that a post office was erected and the town was named Sofronia. Soon, however, the town seemed to disapate and the post office was closed. Eventually a railroad was slated to pass through the town. The owner of the land that the railroad would pass over was donated by J.L. Buckner on the promise that the railroad complany would name the town Buckner. Such was the deal and the town was so named in 1914.
Russell Browning provided a lot of information to the website about Buckner, He said the following.”“I grew up in the town of Buckner and I did not know, and only the very old people there knew, about the High School. Nothing was known about teachers, class mates and any other thing until I found one woman, who has passed away now, that gave me access to pictures. Then I did a micro film search of those years and came up with the information.”
by Reece Rutland- Sports Information Director, Rend Lake College
In this week’s installment of the 50 Influencers, we look at a man who spent more time creating the print than he ever spent being the subject of it. Bob Kelley was Rend Lake College’s self-described “writer-compiler-collector-pseudo historian” and it’s thanks to his efforts that we are able to look back over the past 50 years of the college with such detail.
Bob Kelley as a freshman in Rend Lake College’s first incoming class. (Pictures provided by RLC Public Information)
Kelley has held many titles at RLC. He came on board as a freshman in the very first class to ever attend the college in 1967. His mother, Kathleen Kelley was the Administrative Assistant for the college’s first Dean, Dr. Howard Rawlinson.
In fact, he was among those in attendance for groundbreaking ceremonies for the Ina campus.
Following his graduation from RLC (69), he majored in journalism at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and went on after his undergraduate to work as a sports writer for the State Journal-Register in Springfield and The Sunday Courier and Press in Evansville, Ind. and sports editor for the Owensboro (Ky.) Messenger-Inquirer.
After cutting his teeth in the newspaper business, Kelley returned home in 1979 to work in RLC’s Marketing and Public Information Department, eventually rising to Director of the office and serving 27 years watching the majority of publications, news releases, newspaper ads, TV commercials and the like have come across his desk.
Kelley was honored with one of two “Outstanding Staff” Awards in 2005. Sharing honors with him was Reference Librarian Beth Mandrell.
“Bob has always been the ‘go-to’ guy on campus,” said then-Vice President Bob Carlock, his supervisor at the time. “He is the guy we rely on.”
Carlock indicated Kelley took on the massive task of marketing the college and keeping the public informed on his own for the majority of his career, until the workload began to require additional staff in recent years.
“We award this based on years of service, dedication and loyalty, especially for those who go above and beyond the line of duty,” Carlock said. “We rely on him all the time. He is dedicated to the point if something is going on at Rend Lake College, he will be there to help facilitate it.”
It wasn’t just his work with Marketing and Public Information Department that made Kelley an everyday name at RLC. He also devoted much of his time to supporting and covering the Warrior athletic teams as the college’s Sports Information Director and assistant coach to both basketball and baseball.
He served as Sports Information Director the first 24 years of his time at RLC. He was an Assistant Basketball Coach during Mitch Haskins’ first five seasons (1981-86) and assisted late-arriving Baseball Coach Kirk Champion in Fall 1981. He volunteered as Official Scorer for Men’s Basketball the last nine seasons and for the Lady Warriors for seven before retirement. The former sports writer and editor produced media guides for Men and Women’s Basketball (21 / 18 seasons), Baseball (21), Softball (11), Men and Women’s Golf and Cross-Country / Track and Field.
Kelley was Treasurer of the Great Rivers Athletic Conference from its inception in 1984-85 until 2006, save for one year. He doubled as secretary the first seven years and was publicist three years for the organization. He was a Steering Committee member for the RLC Sports Hall of Fame and has been responsible for plaques, programs and publicity for all Inductions to date and was M.C. through 2006. He has also emceed 11 All-Sports Banquets.
Outside RLC athletics, he provided publicity for S.I. Lions Club All-Star Games and programs for Jr. High State Tournaments.
He was inducted into the RLC Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2012 for his numerous contributions and support to all Warrior athletic programs.
Kelley was also honored with the 25-Year Service Award in spring of 2004.
Bob Kelley, center, is presented the Rend Lake College Foundation’s Bronze Seal award in this archive photo. The award was given by then-RLC President Mark Kern, left, and then-RLCF Director Pat Kern, right.
He and his wife, Kendi, are also Bronze Foundation Seal Award recipients for their numerous contributions to the Rend Lake College Foundation.
Being the writer and “pseudo historian” that he is, Kelley didn’t quit doing what he loved with he retired from RLC. He spent the past few years creating the resource for all things history of Rend Lake College.
By combining his own written introductions and accounts and then gathering all related press releases over the college’s 50-year history, Kelley has created an astounding 1325 page tome stretching the history of the institution for half-a-century. His work covers everything from administration to specific standouts, athletics to strive and everything in between.
It’s not hard to see why co-workers say things like this whenever his name is mentioned:
“He is dependable, hard-working and extremely professional with all he accomplishes,” noted a letter nominating him for the “Outstanding Staff” award.
“He is never too busy, despite his unending deadlines, to assist a colleague when the need arises. The thing that impresses me most is his willingness to help other people, even if it means being one of the last to leave each day or taking extra work home. He brings a delightful sense of humor to the workplace and always has a ready smile. His concern for RLC begins with our students and goes with him into our community, where he is one of our finest spokesmen.”
What better way to end a piece on the accomplishments and impact of a man like Bob Kelley than to let his own words speak for him?
From the introductory chapter of his RLC History, Kelley’s good-natured attitude and love of the college is clearly apparent.
“Before the reader begins discovering – re-discovering? – the virtues of Rend Lake College, past, present and future, we share the thoughts of a well-known character, aka Forrest Gump, who likewise shares a love for chocolates and community colleges. Take time to enjoy both luxuries.
Pham, who has swung a hot bat since he was recalled from Memphis, smacks a HR at Baltimore’s Camden Yards. (USA Today photo)
ST. LOUIS, MO – (Bob Nightengale, USA Today. Please click on the link above to read the full story. Here is an excerpt.)
NOTE: This was published in USA Today last weekend. I did not read it until yesterday. It is a very good article. Even if you are not a sports fan, it is a very good read.
It’s Father’s Day this weekend, a time when hundreds of Major League Baseball players will be calling their fathers, expressing their gratitude and telling them how much they love them.
It will be nothing more than another day on the calendar for St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tommy Pham. The only significance on this day is that the Cardinals will be playing an interleague game at Camden Yards against the Baltimore Orioles
Pham has a biological father. He just doesn’t know him.
They met twice.
Each time he was behind bars.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/makanda-illinois-prepares-for-total-solar-eclipse/
The line marking the eclipse’s path goes through Dave Dardis’ art studio in Makanda. CBS News
MAKANDA, IL – (Adriana Diaz, CBS News. Please click on the link above to read the full story and watch the accompanying video. Here is an excerpt below.)
A rare event in space will bring a dark day for millions of Americans, but many see it as a cause for celebration
The small town of Makanda, Illinois, however, will be directly in the eclipse’s path and is one of the places where the eclipse can be viewed the longest – over two minutes, reports CBS News’ Adriana Diaz.
“I do feel lucky. How can you not feel lucky? This is a lucky event,” said Dave Dardis.
The solar eclipse’s path runs straight through Dave Dardis’ art studio and shop in Makanda, and friends are coming out of the woodwork to get in on the action.
by Steve Dunford
From State Represenative Dave Severin’s office
ZEIGLER, IL – In each of the six high schools in the county there are some super fans that stick out. At Z-R it is Randall Risley, or Double R as my good friend Tom Wheeler has me calling him. I don’t know if I have ever been to a Zeigler-Royalton sporting event that I did not see him. I can go all the way back to the 1980’s when I slid on the jersey of the Thompsonville Tigers.
Since I have completed my second year of covering high school sports. I have had the opportunity to be around Randall a lot. We would cross paths at the Christopher Turkey Tournament, the Sesser-Valier Holiday tournament, and this fall as my son was an offensive lineman for the C-Z-R Bearcats.
I had the opportunity to see him at several games, and he always graciously provides me with pics of the Tornadoes.
Z-R coaches vs. Cancer was founded in the 2009-10 school year by Risley, and Tornadoes Head basketball coach Matt Morgan. Both lost their fathers to cancer at an early age. I can easily identify, as I lost my mother in her mid 50’s to lung cancer.
Here is a side note I would like to share. Six years ago today Matt Morgan was hired as the Tornadoes basketball coach. He has always been very approachable, and I am proud to call him my friend.
In the seven year time frame Zeigler-Royalton High School has raised over $110,000 for the cause. This is for a high school that over the years had an average enrollment of around 160. For the upcoming school year, their enrollment has increased to 180.
Z-R leads the state in this time frame, and they are one of the top schools in the nation in fundraising for Coaches-Vs. Cancer.
State Representative Dave Severin with Zeigler-Royalton High School Principal Quent Hamilton. (from Rep. Severin’s office)
The Illinois House of Representatives passed Resolution #379, sponsored by Rep. Dave Severin (R – Benton). The resolution will be posted at the bottom of the story.
Rep Severin was at Art Brandon Gymnasium to present the resolution to Risley and the rest of the individuals that worked so hard in the community. Severin made the following statement. “Zeigler-Royalton Coaches vs. Cancer is an incredible group.” Rep. Severin said, “Zeigler-Royalton community is neither the biggest nor the wealthiest but somehow, year after year, they are one of the top fundraisers in all of Illinois. The numbers speak for themselves and what Zeigler-Royalton has been able to do is nothing short of amazing.”
In accepting the award, Risley had the following remarks, “The Zeigler-Royalton community is small but we are proud to say we have had a bigger impact than any other high school in the state since we started,” Risley said. “I really appreciate the recognition from Representative Severin as we are all so proud of what we have been able to accomplish.”
Congratulations to the Z-R community for continuing great things for a great cause. Watch for postings for fundraisers for Coaches-vs.-Cancer in the upcoming school year.
From the Z-R Coaches vs. Cancer Facebook page.
