2024 Pekin 4th of July Parade Grand Marshalls Gary Nale (left) and Steve Burnett (right) with Tisha Coles, Pekin Community Betterment Organization Parade Chairman (center).
Taylor Humphrey-Arnold, PCBO president, welcomes those attending the Pekin July 4th events.
Dr. Jeremy Goen, minister of the Pekin Church of Christ, led the invocation, presentation of colors and the Pledge of Allegiance at Thursday's celebration.
Allison Hein sang the national anthem and "Back Home Again In Indiana," accompanied by the Eastern Elementary School Choir.
Eastern Elementary School Choir
Eastern High School's 2024 Valedictorian Glenn Gosnell read the "Preamble of the Declaration of Independence."
2024 Pekin 4th of July Parade Grand Marshalls: Steve Burnett and Gary Nale
Staff photos by Abigail Shields
Kids in grades 3 through 6 are invited to attend a special one-day event at Delaney Creek Park (8215 North Delaney Park Road, Scottsburg, IN 47170) on Wednesday, July 24th. This event will be held with the cooperation of Delaney Creek Park, The Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD), Purdue Extension-Washington County, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Registration will begin at 9:00 AM and activities will begin at 9:15 AM. Kids will participate in activities and learn about water quality monitoring, Hellbender salamanders, wildlife, trees, and getting involved in 4-H! The event will wrap up at 2:00 PM. A sack lunch will be provided to each participant at that time and families will be welcome to stay and enjoy the park after the event.
Kids should dress to spend the day outdoors. There will be an opportunity to get in the water during activities so please have water-appropriate clothing and footwear. Sunscreen, bug spray and a water bottle are also encouraged.
Admission to the park will be waived for attendees.
Pre-registration is required by July 19th. This can be done online at https://tinyurl.com/Kidsdayatdelaney. Please contact the SWCD at (812) 883-3006 ext. 3 with any questions. If you need an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact the Soil & Water Conservation District at (812) 883-3006 ext. 3 at least 2 weeks prior to the event.
As Americans and residents of the United States prepare for some festive Fourth of July celebrations, they can keep these interesting facts related to Independence Day in mind.
Americans celebrate Independence Day every July 4. The holiday has become synonymous with summer fun, as grand fireworks displays and backyard barbecues are integral components of many people's July 4 celebrations.
As Americans and residents of the United States prepare for some festive Fourth of July celebrations, they can keep these interesting facts related to Independence Day in mind.
· There have been many iterations of the American flag. The American flag has become an iconic symbol of freedom recognized across the globe since the United States declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. But few July 4 celebrants may know that the current version is the 27th iteration of the American flag. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the current version of the flag officially became the flag on July 4, 1960.
· More than half of all Americans own an American flag. A 2023 poll from WalletHub found that 57 percent of Americans own an American flag. And that's not the only way Americans show their national pride, as the same poll found that roughly one in three Americans intended to purchase patriotic merchandise for July 4.
· The United States is not the only place to celebrate American independence. Such celebrations occur in various countries, including Australia, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway. The festivities in Rebild National Park in Denmark is believed to be the largest celebration of American independence outside the United States.
· The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates that 150 million hot dogs are consumed on July 4. Though there's no corresponding estimate related to how many hamburgers Americans eat on July 4, various reports suggest Americans eat roughly 50 billion burgers annually, so it's fair to conclude many a burger will be consumed this Independence Day.
· July is a popular month for nations to celebrate their independence. In addition to the United States, various countries, including Algeria (July 5), Argentina (July 9), The Bahamas (July 10), Belarus (July 3), Burundi (July 1), Canada (July 1), Cape Verde (July 1), Colombia (July 20), Kiribati (July 12), and Liberia (July 26), celebrate their Independence Day in July.
· John Adams, a Founding Father of the United States and the second president in the country's history, felt Americans should celebrate their independence from Great Britain on July 2. That's because the Continential Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776. However, the Declaration of Independence was not approved for two more days, thus making July 4 the day to celebrate America's independence from Great Britain.
Ivy Harris of Salem will be departing soon for a Christian mission trip to Australia. She will be a sophmore at Indiana University Southeast this fall and is the daughter of Roy and Gretta Harris of Salem.
Ivy describes below how she came to be involved in this exciting experience:
Personal information about yourself:
I graduated Salem High School in 2023, and I just finished my first year of college at IU Southeast. I’m pursuing a business degree concentrated in accounting. I entered IUS on sophomore standing because I took dual credit and AP classes in high school; I’ll be graduating in three years rather than four.
On campus I'm involved in a Christian organization called Cru. I learned about this organization at the Student Involvement & Resource Fair during my first week of college, and I joined right away. It was important to me to have a community of Christian friends during my time at IUS. It’s common for believers to fall away from faith during their college years, and I didn’t want to be a part of that. This organization is on 8,919 campuses worldwide, and it offers a variety of mission trip opportunities all over the globe.
How did you get involved with the mission trip:
I felt like the Lord was calling me to go on my first mission, and my friend from IUS also felt the same way. We were on the Cru website scrolling through the different options and Australia stood out to both of us. We both applied online and decided to go through this together. After the application was reviewed by the mission leader, she called to give me more details about the trip and so we could ask each other any questions. Then, a week later, I got the email of acceptance to go on the mission trip.
Details about the venue:
The trip is in Sydney, Australia July 11-27. The team will be meeting and spending the night in Las Angeles, CA on July 10 to do some team building, then we will leave in the evening of July 11 to fly to Sydney. The team includes three staff members and there are seven of us students. The team is made up of staff and students in Cru from several different states including Texas, Minnesota, Florida, and North Carolina. In L.A., we’ll be staying at Aloft El Segundo Hotel. In Australia, we will be staying at Quest Macquarie Park, which is an apartment hotel.
Duties and activities expected of you:
My team and I will be partnering with the Cru staff and student leaders at the University of Sydney and Macquarie University (Power To Change is Cru’s official name in Australia). We will be welcoming and reaching out to international students on their campuses. There are 87,000+ international students in New South Wales. Most of those international students are from China, Korea, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam. We will be evangelizing to these students and encouraging them to check out their campus’ Cru organization. On Mondays through Fridays we will be 9-5 working at the campuses, with some additional evening activities. Saturdays are for team outings/development. Sundays are for church and rest.
Info about the sponsoring organization:
Cru’s mission statement is to win, build and send Christ-centered multiplying disciples who launch spiritual movements. Cru was originally founded as Campus Crusade for Christ in 1951, when Bill and Vonette Bright began the ministry on the UCLA campus. God gave Bill a vision of the total fulfillment of the Great Commission throughout the world, starting with college students. Cru helps the body of Christ to do evangelism and discipleship in a variety of creative ways such as campus ministries, Cru’s city ministry, FamilyLife, Athletes in Action, Cru Military, and the “JESUS” film. Cru has more than 16,000 staff members in over 190 countries.
Personal experience with traveling and expectations:
This will be my first time out of the country and also my first time on a plane.
I hope to return with powerful stories of how I saw God moving during this mission trip.I’m excited to go to a new place and to focus solely on God for two and a half weeks. Although, I'm a little nervous about the flight as I've never been on a plane before.
I’m looking forward to building friendships with my team and sharing the gospel with the students in Australia.
The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) submitted an inventory of lost farmland report to the Legislative Council. In 2023, the Indiana General Assembly passed House Enrolled Act 1557, which tasked ISDA to complete an inventory of lost farmland in Indiana from 2010-2022.
ISDA determined through the inventory of lost farmland that there has been an overall reduction of farmland acres of approximately 1.5-2% from 2010-2022. This represents a loss of approximately 350,000 acres. The results show that agricultural land was most likely to be lost in areas around the edges of cities and suburban areas. The primary cause of reduction in farmland was due to residential use.
“Agriculture is, and always has been, the lifeblood of the Hoosier state,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “Data is critical for all levels of government when making decisions that may affect our rural communities and food security.”
ISDA used two sources of data – (1) parcel data from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) and (2) the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Crop Data Layer (CDL). Both datasets have different qualities that make them desirable for attempting to discern both the quantity of land use change and the causes of land use change.
“The inventory of lost farmland was an opportunity for ISDA and legislators to gain access to reliable data, where up until now, we could only make assumptions,” said Don Lamb, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. “This information is important to have for policy development as we work to balance economic growth, food security and the preservation of agricultural land, because we know when agriculture is strong, Indiana is too.”
Despite the loss in acreage, yield data from USDA NASS shows that Indiana’s production of its cash crops has increased. In 2012, Indiana produced over 597 million bushels of corn for grain, and in 2022 yielded over 1 billion bushels. Indiana produced nearly 219 million bushels of soybeans in 2012 and saw that number increase to over 326 million in 2022.
ISDA outlined several recommendations within the report to the Legislative Council, including that legislation be passed directing ISDA to update the inventory of lost farmland every five years, starting in 2029 for a report to be published in 2030.
To view the full 2010 to 2022 report or narrative, click here or visit isda.in.gov.
Salem High School Homecoming Pictures
17 Sep 2024
13
Sep
Indiana Leads The Nation For The Share Of High Schoolers Earning College Credits Before Graduation
13 Sep 2024
Eastern High School 2024-25 Football Homecoming Court
13 Sep 2024
INDOT Seeks Applicants for Engineering Scholarship Program
13 Sep 2024
West Washington Schools Outperform Area Schools
12 Sep 2024
East Washington School Board To Address Superintendent Contract Proposal
12 Sep 2024
Indiana529 To Give $10K Scholarship Award
11 Sep 2024
Salem Band Invitational Will Be September 7th
04 Sep 2024
Salem High School Homecoming Will Be September 13th
04 Sep 2024
"Try It Tuesday" At Bradie Shrum Elementary School
30 Aug 2024
IU Eskenazi Students To Showcase Rural Placemaking Studio Designs August 27
22 Aug 2024
"The Witching Hour' Is The Theme For The Marching Lions' Season
21 Aug 2024
Grades 3-5 Salem Star Students Of The Week
19 Aug 2024
Congratulations to Jameson, Wyatt, Lilly, Gavin, and Ellyeanna for being grades 3-5 Salem Star Students of the Week!
Grades K-2 Salem Star Students Of The Week
19 Aug 2024
Congratulations to Summer, Kase, Easton, Maggie, Remington, and Lila for being grades K-2 Salem Star Students of the Week!
Salem High School Turf Field Dedicated To Jim Ralston
19 Aug 2024
Community Foundation Of Southern Indiana Scholarship Applications Now Available
12 Aug 2024
IU Southeast School of Business Makes Princeton Review “Best of” List For 18th Year
05 Aug 2024
Police Remind Motorists To Stop For School Buses Or Face The Consequences
05 Aug 2024
Buckle up for Back to School Month: Safety Tips For Parents And Communities
02 Aug 2024
SHS Turf Football Field Nears Completion
29 Jul 2024
East Washington Schools Calendar 2024-2025
29 Jul 2024
Salem Community Schools Calendar 2024-2025
29 Jul 2024
West Washington Schools Calendar 2024-2025
29 Jul 2024
SHS Welcomes Luke Dean As Principal
29 Jul 2024
Skills Needed For Entry To Kindergarten
29 Jul 2024
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