Thursday Jan. 28, 2016 Vol. 3, No. 46
The Weekly Post
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Brimfield AD hoping to start athletic hall of fame By TERRY BIBO
BRIMFIELD – Eleven months after a state basketball championship, Brimfield Community Unit School District 309 is investigating ways to recognize star athletes. First up is No. 4, Carson Cuevas. After leading the Indians to the Class 1A basketball title last spring, Cuevas was signed to play baseball by Illinois Central College. “We’d like to retire Carson’s jersey. We feel that’s a no-brainer,” athletic director/assistant basketball coach Kevin Kreiter told school board members Jan. 20. “Coach (Scott) Carlson and I have For The Weekly Post
been doing this for 19 years and never thought about retiring anybody’s jersey,” Kreiter continued. “They kind of speak for themselves.” Kreiter says he fields questions about
Carson Cuevas helped lead Brimfield to a Class 1A state title in boys basketball last year. Athletic director Kevin Kreiter is working on criteria to retire the number of top Brimfield athletes like Cuevas and to honor them with induction in a Brimfield Hall of Fame.
honoring such extraordinary athletic achievements “all the time.” As a result, he has been developing criteria to retire numbers and jerseys, as well as to establish a Brimfield High
School Hall of Fame. Proposed qualifications include: For a number to be retired, an athlete must make the Associated Press firstteam all-state squad and be honored as the Journal Star Player of the Year. He or she must have no athletic code violations or academic ineligibilities during four years of high school. The athlete must have attended Brimfield High School for at least two years. And he or she must either have had a team advance to the final four while a starter, be in the Top 10 of the class academically or be state champion in an individual sport. To qualify for the Hall of Fame, an ath-
Elmwood extends Wagner’s contract
FARMINGTON FOOD PANTRY
Giving, not judging key to Farmington pantry
fort dates back some 25 years, to when seven area churches FARMINGTON – Kenny saw a need and pooled their reHolmstrom isn’t judgmental, sources to help neighbors who he says. Although he’s never could use a helping hand. gone hungry, he’s been poor, “Some churches got together so he doesn’t question people and said ‘It looks like someneeding help from the Farmthing needs to be done and we ington Area Food Pantry. need to do something,’ ” says “I grew Marianne Tayup on a lor, who grew “We thought our farm by up on a farm parents didn’t like ice north of TrivVarna, in Marshall oli and since cream but later on County, moving to realized they just didn’t Farmington and my family have a spare nickel.” has been part would go – Kenny Holmstrom of the effort to town on for years. Saturdays On the third to buy groceries and my Wednesday of each month bebrother and I would each get a tween 1-2 p.m., people visit nickel for ice cream,” says the New Hope Fellowship Holmstrom, 88, a Farmington church on Illinois Route 78 resident for about four decades north of Farmington, fill out a now. “We thought our parents short form, and wait to have didn’t like ice cream but later their name called to get a box on realized they just didn’t of non-perishable goods such have a spare nickel.” as canned meat or tuna, soups One of several area foodand stews, vegetables and pantry programs, the local effruits, plus peanut butter,
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By BILL KNIGHT For The Weekly Post
By BILL KNIGHT
ELMWOOD – The Board of Education on Monday (Jan. 25) approved a new, three-year agreement with Superintendent Chad Wagner that takes effect July 1. Wagner, whose salary will increase to $132,673 from $130,072, will receive a 2 percent raise this year – the same wage increase as teachers receive in the current contract. Wagner will also receive the same rate of increase the board negotiates with teachers over the final two years of his contract. In other action, the Board OK’d hiring Demonica Kemper Architects for analysis of Phase II construction projects for a fee of $12,000. “The architects said their work will take a couple of months,” Wagner said. “It will be based on community input about the For The Weekly Post
Marianne Taylor and Kenny Holmstrom check food supplies of the Farmington Area Food Pantry. Photo by Bill Knight.
boxed dinners, chips, candy and staples ranging from soap to toothpaste. Depending on donations and seasons, Farmington also gives away frozen food and meat and fresh produce, says Holm-
strom, who points out chicken legs and ribs in a storeroom freezer and remembers handing out bags of apples and gardeners’ donated acorn squash, zucchini and other vegetables. Continued on Page 2
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