| The 
			following items will be accepted: 
				
				
				Entertainment equipment, including 
				TVs, radios, stereo and game systems, game controls, VCR and DVD 
				players, and cameras.
				
				Computer equipment, including 
				laptop and desktop personal computers, hard drives, monitors, 
				keyboards, printers, scanners, cords and cables, CD-ROM, DVD, 
				Zip and tape drives.
				
				Small business equipment, 
				including phones, copiers, typewriters, fax machines and 
				calculators.
				Small 
				household and countertop appliances will also be accepted, as 
				well as aluminum, copper, brass and stainless steel items. 
						Electronics are not to be left at the 
			site and are not collected outside the hours of the collection. 
	Additional information on the electronics 
recycling program is available through Habitat for Humanity of Logan County by 
contacting the office at 217-732-6412 or visiting
www.habitatlogan.org. 
 
			
			 Library 
	prepares for new online system 
	The Lincoln Public Library District will 
	convert to a new online computer database this spring. The library will join 
	426 other member libraries in the Illinois Heartland Library System and 
	become a member of the new Polaris online database. The current library database will no 
			longer be available after March 29, and the new database is expected 
			to become operational on April 9. Patrons who maintain holds or 
			reading lists in the old database are asked to contact the library 
			by March 15 to have that information transferred to the new 
			database. For more information, contact April Jensen, circulation manager, 
			at 732-8878 or visit the library at 725 Pekin St. 
 
	
			
			 Palms 
	Grill & Atlanta awarded, recognized & promoted at Illinois Governor's 
	Conference on Tourism 
	ATLANTA -- Lumi Bekteshi, head waitress at the 
	Palms Grill Café in Atlanta, has won the Best Supporting Actress award at 
	the Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism in Rosemont Feb. 27 to March 
	1. The award is part of a series of new Illinois Office of Tourism "Lincoln 
	Awards" given out this year at the conference. The awards were inspired by 
	the Oscar-nominated Steven Spielberg blockbuster film "Lincoln." 
			"Everyone in Atlanta is very proud of Lumi and all her 
			accomplishments, especially her pie baking! This has been a big year 
			for her; first she became a U.S. citizen and now she's a best 
			supporting actress. She's living the American dream, and we're happy 
			she calls Atlanta home," said Bill Thomas. 
			 Thomas, a longtime entrepreneur and promoter of tourism in the 
			community, was instrumental in driving the reopening of the iconic 
			Route 66 diner and adjacent Atlanta Museum in May 2009. This process 
			included grant funding from the Illinois Office of Tourism and the 
			National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. The 
			diner is located on the original section of Route 66 at 110 SW Arch 
			St. in Atlanta. In addition, a promotional video featuring the Atlanta Route 66 
			tourism success story was featured with the conference's keynote 
			address by Jen Hoelzle, deputy director of the Illinois Office of 
			Tourism. Hoelzle emphasized the 43 percent increase in the city's 
			sales tax revenue since the reopening of the Palms Grill. Atlanta 
			and the Palms Grill are also featured by the state tourism office in 
			new television and print media campaigns that were also unveiled at 
			the conference. 
	The Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway and Abraham Lincoln Tourism 
			Bureau of Logan County congratulate Lumi Bekteshi, Bill Thomas, 
			Atlanta Mayor Fred Finchum, the citizens of the community and 
			traveling patrons to the Palms Grill and Atlanta. 
 
	
			
			 Seating limited for Russel Allen Garden Day 
	Limited space is still available for 
	attendance at Russel Allen Garden Day. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 1 
	p.m. March 9 on the campus of Lincoln College. The program features keynote 
	speaker Dianne Noland, host and moderator of "Mid-American Gardener" on PBS.
	
			 
	Preregistration is highly encouraged. The 
	registration fee is $10 before March 2 and $12 at the door. To view a 
	brochure and
	
	register online, visit the Logan-Menard-Sangamon Extension website,
	
	http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lms/. For additional information, call 
	217-732-8289. 
 [to top of second 
			column] | 
 
 
			 Lincoln 
	Writer's Club will meet March 12 
	Lincoln Writer's Club will 
	meet Tuesday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the Alumni Room of the Lincoln 
	College student center. 
            Suggested writing topics: story about 
			Easter; nicknames; to be 13 again; or springtime. 
			All are welcome. For more information, call 732-2723. 
			 
 
			 Lincoln 
	Jaycees Lawnmower Clinic 
	Have the Lincoln Jaycees get your mower ready 
	for the upcoming season. Bring in your push mower (no riding mowers) and the 
	Jaycees will change the oil, change the spark plug, sharpen the blade, clean 
	the mower deck and check the air filter. 
			Mowers may be dropped off from 9 a.m. 
			to noon on Saturday, March 9, at the Lincoln Jaycees Center, 325 S. 
			Chicago St. Mowers may be picked up the same day from 3 to 5 p.m. The cost is $30 at drop-off. (Save 
			$5 if you prepay online at
			
			lincolnjaycees.com.) All profits help fund upcoming Lincoln 
			Jaycees community projects. ___ The Lincoln Jaycees are a 
			not-for-profit organization serving Lincoln and the surrounding 
			communities. The organization gives young people ages 18-40 the 
			tools they need to build the bridges of success for themselves in 
			the areas of business development, management skills, individual 
			training, community service and international connections. 
			Membership meetings are the third Friday of each month, 7:30 p.m., 
			at the Lincoln Jaycees Center, 325 S. Chicago St., and are open to 
			everyone. 
 
			
			 Polar 
	Plungers across Illinois will be freezin' for a reason Feb. 22-March 17 
	NORMAL -- It's not every day that people are 
	willing to "go jump in a lake" -- particularly in the winter -- let alone do 
	so with thousands of other people, including members of the law enforcement 
	community. But that's exactly what will happen on various weekends in 
	February and March as part of the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar 
	Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Illinois presented by GEICO. Any adventurous soul is invited to 
			join law enforcement officers, as well as media and business and 
			civic leaders from their community, by donning bathing suits, 
			costumes or any clothing of choice (just no wetsuits!) to jump in a 
			lake. Each plunger must collect a minimum of $75 in donations that 
			will be used to support Special Olympics programs in Illinois.
			 The event has grown from one location in 1999 to 20 locations 
			across the state this year. The Polar Plunge series will kick off 
			with a Super Plunge -- where participants raise a minimum of $2,500 
			and plunge into Lake Michigan once every hour for 24 hours -- on 
			Feb. 22-23 at Northwestern University's North Beach in Evanston. The Logan County plunge will take place on Sunday, March 17, at 2 
			p.m. at Lincoln Lakes. Please note this is a change in both day of the 
			week and time. Anyone wishing to know more about the local plunge 
			can click on the "Polar 
			Plunge" button on the Top Stories page of LDN or contact Joanie 
			Keyes of Special Olympics Illinois at 217-428-9255. Individuals and teams can register for the plunge on the Special 
			Olympics Illinois website at
			
			http://www.plungeillinois.com/ or by contacting Keyes at the 
			number above. Plungers are encouraged to form teams to spread the fun. Each 
			team member must raise the minimum of $75 in donations, and all team 
			members' individual fundraising totals will be merged to form a 
			combined team total. Teams are placed into divisions based on size 
			and are awarded prizes for the most money raised. All plungers will receive gifts, compete for prizes, and enjoy 
			food and camaraderie with other chilly participants. The more money 
			a plunger raises, the more chances he or she will have to win a 
			four-night trip for two adults to Cancun, Mexico, with 
			accommodations at Riu Peninsula, courtesy of Apple Vacations. For 
			every $500 a plunger raises, he or she will get an entry into the 
			drawing for this grand prize.  The Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run is the single largest 
			year-round fundraising vehicle benefiting Special Olympics Illinois. 
			The annual intrastate relay and its various fundraising projects 
			have two goals: to raise money and increase public awareness for the 
			athletes of Special Olympics Illinois. Each year, more than 3,000 
			officers in Illinois run more than 1,500 miles carrying the "Flame 
			of Hope" through the streets of their hometowns and deliver it to 
			the State Summer Games in Normal in June. 
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