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Randolph County featured in national ad campaign
The first ad in the Randolph County Progress Committee’s
national campaign is in circulation and online. The ad
promotes tourism and economic development for Randolph
County.
According to Chris Martin, coordinator of economic
development for Randolph County, the ad design has multiple
purposes. “We wanted to design an ad that caught people’s
attention first,” noted Martin. “We want to draw the reader
to the page so they spend time reading our messages, which
are two. The first is to illustrate the outstanding
attributes Randolph County has that will attract companies
to start or expand here.”
The ad mentions logistics like the ports of the Kaskaskia
Regional Port District and rail options. The Randolph County
workforce is also lauded and the ad includes interior photos
of the laboratory at Gilster-Mary Lee’s marshmallow/shredded
wheat plant in Chester, and the finishing room at Total
Titanium in Red Bud.
According to Martin, the second purpose for the ad is to
illustrate the great tourism attractions in Randolph County.
The ad features an antique map of Randolph County and
mentions county history, the Popeye Character Trail, the
Pierre Menard Home and the World Shooting & Recreation
Complex.
“Despite the economy in 2010, more than $29 million dollars
were spent on tourism activities in Randolph County,” said
Martin. “That is a significant economic impact and we expect
that figure will be higher for 2011. We want to continue to
promote tourism in our great community.”
RBHS cheerleaders take first place
by Jana Kueker
They’ve done it again. The Red Bud High School Cheerleading
Team lived up to last year’s expectations and brought home
first place from the Illinois Cheerleading Coach’s
Association Invitational held at Highland High School Jan.
15.
Forty teams competed a year ago in a variety of divisions.
Well this year that total grew to 70 teams with over 2,000
spectators.
Red Bud claimed the top spot in the game cheer division and
also qualified for state competition. A first place in their
respective division does not automatically qualify the team
for state. The team has to accumulate a percentage of points
from the judging to advance to the state level.
As far as the game cheer division, the squad is judged on
three main categories. The first is projection which
includes voice, spirit/sportsmanship and leadership skills.
They are judged on fundamental skills consisting of motions,
jumps and synchronization. The third is overall effect which
is difficulty, formation and spacing, creativity/originality
and crowd appeal.
State competition will be held Feb. 11 at the Prairie State
Convention Center in Springfield.
“The girls were extremely nervous this year because of doing
so well last year, they felt they had something to live up
to and they did!” said Coaches Angie Cartee and Jessica
Schloemann.
Strong storm swept through area this week
Mother Nature can’t seem to make up her mind lately. At the
end of last week, snow blanketed the area, with the weekend
warming up to spring-like temperatures.
At the beginning of this week, the temperatures began to
drop again, causing some storms to pop up Tuesday.
Many local people were awakened early Tuesday morning to the
sound of hail and a tornado watch as a storm with strong
winds swept through the area.
There was no official reports of damage caused by the storm,
but the flagpole at the Red Bud Masons Lodge on East South
First Street was bent almost to the ground by the strong
winds.
First State Bank merger is official
A new community bank has come to town. On Jan. 13, the First
State Bank of Red Bud merged with the First National Bank of
Dieterich.
The new bank, The First National Bank of Dieterich, Red Bud
facility, and its sister facility in Belleville, will
continue to offer support for their respective communities
through funding of community projects and will bring even
more product and service choices to its customers.
Dan Koenigstein, senior vice president, stated “The products
and services of both banks are very similar. We predict an
expansion in the product and service offerings available to
our customers.”
Customers will also continue to see familiar faces in the
bank. As a matter of fact, the new bank will be retaining
all of the current employees.
“The reason we were interested in purchasing the First State
Bank of Red Bud is because we feel it is a very natural fit
for us. We come from very similar cultural backgrounds,”
noted Chuck Deters, president of the bank’s holding company,
Prime Banc Corp. |
