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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Leo and Joanie Stewart celebrate 40th anniversar y
Leo and Joanie Stewart of Prophetstown celebrated their 40th anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 17.
The couple were married in 1981. Congratulatory cards may be sent to Leo and Joanie Stewart, 100 Grove St., Prophetstown, IL 61277.
Happy 40th anniversary! Love, your kids and grandkids
First Reformed Church carries on missions at home
For more than two decades, First Reformed Church of Fulton has sent teams to Grace Covenant Ministries in Annville, Kentucky. For the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic had put a halt to those plans, but this year, the servants at First Reformed Church would not be denied the chance to serve. They served people locally who had a need. The group caulked a shed, trimmed bushes, weeded flower beds, washed screens and windows, raked yards, cleaned out gutters, cleaned out rafters and did many other jobs. Serving locally were Nancy Dykstra (front row, left) and Peggy Kilburg, Candi Schipper (middle row, left) and Brenda Sheckler and Art Kilburg (back row, left) and Ken Vanderploeg.
Cox descendants gather for reunion
The descendants of Clay and Florance Cox gathered on Sunday, Sept. 21 at Heritage Park in Erie.
There were 32 family members present. The family member closest was Terry and Kris Cox of Erie and the farthest was Patricia Martin from San Diego, CA. Families were represented from Erie, East Moline, Geneseo, Port Byron, Cordova, Rock Island, Prophetstown, Rochelle, Colona, Rock Falls, Atkinson, and Mansfield in Illinois. Out-of-state families were Patricia Martin of San Diego, CA; Fay and Dave Haan of Cable, WI; and Danny Martin of Ashland City, TN.
The oldest member attending was Jim Johnson, 91, and the youngest was Sorn Hoover, 3.
Food, fun and a lot of catching up was had by all.
This year’s hosts were Terry and Kris Cox and Travis and Tiffany Cox, both from Erie. The 2022 host will be Peter Rebenar from Port Byron.
NEWS BRIEFS
SVCC to present ‘Macbeth’ on Oct. 23
Sauk Valley Community College invites the public to the fall play “Macbeth.” The production will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 at the SVCC Riverside Lawn Firepit, located behind the Dillon Mall. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.
The event will be outside. SVCC bathrooms will be open inside. Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, masks must be worn inside the building.
For information, contact show director Tori Duffin at vduffin@sps5.org.
The Fulton High School Class of 1973 is planning its 50th class reunion and needs to gather names and addresses.
If you are a member of this class, text your information to 563-249-3089 or sign up on the alumni group at www.alumniclass.com/ fulton-high-school-steamers-il.
Timber Lake Playhouse offering Haunted Experience
The Haunted Experience at Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road in Mount Carroll, runs from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights in October. The Haunted Experience includes the Trail of Terror, a fun house, a haunted house and an escape room.
TLP will close out Haunted October on the Oct. 30 with its annual offering of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
By KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@shawmedia.com
MORRISON – An idea that began as a doodle on a napkin five years ago and morphed into a $20.5 million Morrison Community Hospital expansion is culminating in an open house Oct. 24.
After two years of sawing and hammering, digging and pouring, painting and polishing, the 80,000-square-foot expansion/renovation at MCH, 303 N. Jackson St., is complete and right on time.
The project included a new helipad; a new emergency department featuring five additional bays on the north side of the building, one of which is a trauma bay; an ambulance canopy; and an additional operating room on the east side of the hospital along Jackson Street.
There’s a new three-level facility on the south side with control room and maintenance equipment storage on the first floor, a conference room/board room and rehab department on the second floor and eight new medical surgical rooms on the top floor.
Existing offices were remodeled, and billing and medical records got new offices, as did many doctors. The old doctors offices now are waiting rooms.
The lab was moved to the front of the hospital to provide better patient access. The radiology department is larger, and a new entranceway was built with a canopy drop-off area and exterior heating.
The rebirth of the nonprofit, cityowned hospital grew from modest beginnings. More than five years ago during a chat in the cafe, MCH Board Chairman Don Beswick drew a what-if expansion design on a napkin. Chats continued and the plans were redrawn on cardboard, then transferred to graph paper. In October 2016, the hospital announced plans to build a $6 million ED expansion and fundraising began in earnest.
At the same time, a feasibility study was conducted that determined, to everyone’s surprise, “you’re not aiming big enough,” Marketing Director Mick Welding said. What was needed was a new, larger space for orthopedic surgeries, the study said.
The $6 million expansion became a $20 million expansion that the community is invited to tour at the open house, which will be from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 24. A ribbon-cutting will take place at 12:45 p.m., and there will be live music, meals and desserts.
More than 1,000 people are expected to attend, including state Reps. Tony M c C o m b i e , R - S a v a n n a , a n d N e a l Anderson, R-Rock Island.
The expansion also applies to staff. MCH is hiring clinical and nonclinical workers. Positions are posted at www. morrisonhospital.com. Nursing applicants can contact Sherri Garcia, chief nursing officer, at sgarcia@mchstaff. com or 815-772-5524 for information on those positions.
A low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture paid for the project.
Donations to help pay the loan can be made at morrisonhospital.com or sent to Morrison Community Hospital Foundation, 303 N. Jackson St., Morrison IL, 61270. Call Marketing Director Mick Welding at 815-772-5510 for information.
Steve Siefken for Shaw Media Morrison Community Hospital invites the public to tour its newly expanded facility at an open house from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24.
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When you get vaccinated, you make your community a safer place. Getting vaccinated will help stop the spread of COVID-19. Protect yourself and those around you so we can defeat this virus that has taken so much from so many. Be part of the solution – get vaccinated – and let’s move forward together. It’s our best shot. Learn more at osfhealthcare.org/vax.
