By Jeff Smyth
Of the three “greeting card holidays,” Mother’s Day is by far the most difficult for a guy married with children to negotiate without incident. Plus, if your mother is still alive the chances of a misstep grows exponentially.
The other two holidays don’t even compare to the treacherousness of Mother’s Day. On Valentine’s Day, guys are on their best behavior because in the back of their minds they believe that, if they play it right, they might get “some.” I’m not even sure why Father’s Day exists where the traditional gift is to give dad a tie; the ultimate symbol of servitude, but more about that day later.
Students from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades of St. Bruno School in Pinckneyville celebrated Earth Day by planting native flowers and creating a butterfly habitat at Pyramid State Park. This is the second consecutive year the school has participated in the program sponsored by the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources and the Friends of Pyramid State Park. (click on image to view the photo gallery)
The morels are popping and tonight's rain should put them into overdrive. Send us pictures of your haul and we will decide who has bragging rights. Hit the Post It button to login.
By Jeff Smyth
It took a month for the cavalry to arrive but when it did its guns were blazing. In a show of force, one-by-one citizens addressed the PCHS Board of Education in defense of basketball coach Bob Waggoner. That stood in contrast to the board’s February meeting where a small group went behind the closed doors of executive session to discuss what were assumed to be grievances against the embroiled coach.
Since then, accusations and innuendo have been the topic de jour around town. At last one of them – the doctoring of a drug test on a Panther basketball player – was exposed at the March 25 meeting.
By Jeff Smyth
When the Pinckneyville Community High School Board of Education chose March 25 to eliminate the school’s art program with its seven corresponding courses, I couldn’t help thinking of the Dark Ages; a time in civilization of economic despair and cultural decline.
Indeed, the decision was made in order to save a school district facing a deficit of almost $310,000 next year some $60,000. The board had to cut somewhere and the art program drew its attention when teacher Mary Jane Field announced her retirement leaving only Sandy Stevens. (The board eliminated Field’s position and laid off Stevens in a move called a Reduction in Force.) The fact that only 24 students indicated they would enroll in art next fall didn’t help.
The PCHS Music Makers production of the "Pajama Game" will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students. The new venue is open, airy and with ample seating to make for an enjoyable evening. More than 50 students are helping to present the show. Purchase tickets at Perry County Market Place or at the door. (click on the image to view the photo gallery)
The PCHS Poms placed second in Class A Kick and fourth in Jazz at the Illinois Drill Team Assoc. state championship in Urbana, March 16. Click on the image to view the photo gallery.
Ricky Nesslar of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Fire Dogs lights a stand of phragmite, a.k.a. "elephant grass", at the Galum section of Pyramid State Park. IDNR conducts annual controlled burns of the the property to eradicate invasive species, opening them up to native grasses.
