Area Breaking News
First Grader Plans to Donate Toys to Hospital on One-Year Transplant Anniversary
BY SHELBY NIEHAUS The way six-year-old St. Elmo resident Kinley Walker tell it, there’s a pile of “six million hundred” new toys, games, and plush dolls in the basement of her grandmother’s home. Her mother Hannah clarifies the real figure, but the mountain of toys is still massive: one stacked-full table, six plastic totes, and…
Read MoreFirst Annual Fiesta for CF Will Raise Money for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
BY SHELBY NIEHAUS A celebration of life meets and assurance of more to come when the Fiesta for CF comes to Altamont’s Carriage House Event Center on Saturday, Feb. 9 from 4 to 11 p.m. Beecher City resident Allyson Anderson, the Fiesta for CF’s organizer, spoke to the News and Banner on the afternoon of…
Read MoreDrops in the Bucket: The One-Cent Tax, All in One Place
BY SHELBY NIEHAUS Communities across Fayette county have been preparing for the April elections with meetings, fliers, and outreach concerning one item on the ballot: the County School Facilities Sales Tax. In an effort to prepare our readers for election time, the St. Elmo Banner offers a brief primer to the so-called “one-cent tax” and…
Read MoreCitizens Observe Modest Christmas Celebration in St. Elmo
Though relatively few locals turned out for the festivities, the City of St. Elmo still observed its annual Christmas in St. Elmo event on Sunday, Dec. 2. Vendor booths, including Altamont’s Craft’n Couple (Jennifer and Rob Gentry) and Ray and Tina Scott of Tina Scott’s Gourds and More of St. Elmo, set up wares inside…
Read MoreBig Plans Upcoming for 2019 Effingham County Fair
The Effingham County Fair held its annual meeting at the Carriage House Event Center in Altamont todiscuss a number of plans and improvements in the works for the 75th annual Effingham County Fair in the summer of 2019. 2018 Effingham County Fair Queen Serena Strullmyer was given the honors of drawing names from the fair board’s list of schools entered in the annual…
Read MoreLowe Named as 2018 St. Elmo Citizen of the Year
Longtime St. Elmo Lion and WWII veteran Richard Lowe was presented as St. Elmo’s Citizen of the Year for 2018 during a 6 p.m. ceremony at Community Park on Labor Day. Mayor Ernie Myers gave a short speech in Lowe’s honor. Dozens of citizens were in attendance to hear of the award. The following…
Read MoreMarching Indians Prepare for Season of Crowd-Pleasing Parades
Gone are the years of pep band sets on the parade route: Altamont Community High School band director Sara Berg has bigger goals for her ensemble. This year, the Marching Indians are taking a medley of songs from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, as arranged by Paul Murtha and distributed…
Read MoreWilhour Memorial 5K to Honor Beloved Wife, Mother
Haley (Miller) Wilhour, the daughter of Bruce and Sandra Miller of rural Beecher City, lived what many could call a blessed life. She married her high school sweetheart, Jason Wilhour, the summer after her graduation, and happily raised four children with him. She loved her husband and her children, helping her church family at Church…
Read MoreLocal Cheerleaders to Perform in Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade
In late June, the Altamont Junior High cheer team attended a Universal Cheer Association camp together in order to hone their skills as performers. At the camp, students from Altamont, Effingham, St. Anthony, Dieterich, Louisville, and New Athens schools auditioned for roles in UCA’s All-American squad, which will perform in Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, slated…
Read MoreStrullmyer Takes Crown at 2018 Fair Queen Pageant
BY SHELBY NIEHAUS Serena Strullmyer, 21-year-old daughter of Joe and Sherri Strullmyer of Altamont, gasps in pure joy as her name is announced late Tuesday evening. She has just been awarded the title of 2018 Effingham County Fair Queen. Strullmyer, along with five other Queen candidates, competed over the course of a three-hour Queen and…
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