Featuring golfers from Bureau Valley, Hall, St. Bede and Princeton

Payton Frueh of Ohio, Ill. competed in the 2025 Illinois State Fair Jr. Horse Show Versatility Contest held on Friday, July, 25 in Springfield. Frueh and her gelding, Cooper, won four of the five events and took home the Championship in Jr. Versatility.

Kathy Ballard is the 2025 recipient of the Betty Pretzsch Memorial Volunteer Award given to a 5-year member of the Friends of Princeton Public Library. She has been a member of the Friends of Princeton Public Library since 2016.

Dustin Pearson lived life in the fast lane. He never slowed down in life or boat racing. In his Facebook profile, Pearson said, “Once a driver seriously considers safety an issue, you know his fastest days are over.” Sadly, Pearson lost his life racing at Lake DePue.

Princeton’s Avah Oertel (Heartland Havoc 16U Premier Maraden) and LaSalle-Peru’s Taylor Vescogni (Beverly Bandits 16U Otto) wrapped up their summer travel softball season at the national level.

Bureau County Fair Survey Contest

American Legion Post 180 will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Post, located at 209 N. McCoy St. in Granville.

The 66th annual Illinois Valley Women’s Golf Invitational will be held on Sunday, Aug. 10 at Edgewood Park Golf Club in McNabb. Registration starts at 8 a.m. with a 9 a.m. modified shotgun start.

The Princeton cross country team will resume its summer running schedule with six remaining sessions for the week of July 28-Aug. 1. The PHS runners will meet at 8:30 a.m. and 7p.m. at Zearing Park on Wednesday and at 8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the high school on Thursday and Friday

The 28th annual Tiger Classic sponsored by the Princeton Tiger Athletic Boosters Club will be held Aug. 16 at Chapel Hill Golf Course. The four-person team entry fee of $350 includes gift bags, four drink tickets and four lunch tickets.

J.A. Happ pitched in parts of 15 MLB seasons for eight teams. He was a member of two Philadelphia Phillies’ World Series teams. Along the way, the southpaw won 133 big league games, had 1,661 strikeouts and earned a save in the 2017 All-Star Game.

The River Bend Food Bank will bring its mobile food pantry at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 31, to the Bureau County Fairgrounds, 811 W. Peru St., Princeton.

Princeton Junior Woman’s Club Baby Contest has received its next six entries for 2025.

The Bureau Valley District #340 Board of Education met in regular session on Wednesday, July 23 at the District Office in Manlius.

Princeton’s Grady Thompson played for the USA D-3 Basketball Team on its 2025 Brazil Tour from July 7-15. He will be a junior at the University of Dubuque, returning as the Spartans leading scorer. He shared his experiences on his trip to Brazil with the BCR.

The Illinois Valley High School Summer Golf League wrapped up its 2025 season. It consisted of eight rounds at eight different area courses. A total of 40 high school golfers from 11 different schools participated in the league this year.

Shaw Media’s Jeanette Smith has been appointed to Heritage Corridor Destination’s Board of Directors.

The Aftershock 16U softball team finished third with a 9-2 record in the Southeast National Championship 16U B division in Hendersonville, Tenn. with area players from Bureau Valley, L-P, Princeton , St. Bede, Hall and Ottawa.

Performances continue through Sunday, Aug. 3. Matinees at 2 p.m. take place on Saturday, July 26, Sunday, July 27, Wednesday, July 30, Saturday, Aug. 2 and Sunday, Aug. 3.

Princeton High School has selected Christy Joehl as the newest member of the Academic and Career Hall of Fame. Joehl will be honored during a ceremony with the student body on Friday, Sept. 5.

A free community workshop on tips for packing snackle boxes will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. Monday, Aug 4, at the Bureau County Farm Bureau in Princeton.

Patrick Smith won’t be taking a different position on the field next spring, but he will have a new title. The Tiger assistant has been named as Princeton’s new head baseball coach, succeeding Wick Warren, who retired after nine seasons.

Chance Blumhorst is going home. The LaMoille head boys basketball coach has resigned after three seasons to take over as athletic director at Mendota High School, his alma mater.

The Princeton Police Pension Board will hold a meeting at 1 p.m. Monday at the Princeton Police Department.

Area students have been recognized at Aurora University, Carthage College, Iowa State University and other schools.

In a celebration of athletic legacy, the Princeton High School cross country teams of 1979 and 1980 will be inducted into the Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame, recognizing their remarkable journey to state runner-up finishes and forging lifelong friendships.

Princeton cross country coach Pat Hodge has made a change to this week’s summer training runs. Runners will meet at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at Zearing Park with the 7 p.m. session now meeting in front of PHS.

Play of the Day for the Wyaton Hills Ladies Day Golf on July 22 was “subtract putts.” Anna Flaig took first place, Karen Towns second and Mary Cooney third.

Bureau County has secured a grant from the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice to launch a new initiative aimed at expanding access to legal help, Bureau County Circuit Clerk Dawn Reglin said in a news release.

Princeton Junior Woman’s Club Baby Contest has received its first six entries for 2025.

The Starved Rock Bandits, a who’s who softball team from the Illinois Valley with players from Hall, Princeton, L-P, St. Bede and Serena, went 7-0 to win the South East USSSA Nationals last week in Nashville (16U Open) division.

Princeton High School District 500 will hold registration for the 2025-26 school year from July 24 through Aug. 12.

The Starved Rock Bandits, a who’s who softball team from the Illinois Valley with players from Hall, Princeton, L-P, St. Bede and Serena, went 7-0 to win the South East USSSA Nationals last week in Nashville (16U Open) division.

There was a special guest for the first day of the Bureau Valley football camp Monday at Ken Bourquin Field in Manlius. John Elder, father of new Storm head coach Pat, made the 80-mile trip from Alexis to see his son’s new squad in action.

The following cases were considered by the Bureau County Grand Jury on July 18.

Tiskilwa High School “Class of ’75″ will have a get-together for their 50th Class Reunion at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1, at Bureau County Fairgrounds in Princeton.

The sale will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1, and from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 2. A light lunch will be available for purchase on Friday.

Frank Colmone served as Hall’s Athletic Director from 1970-94, a period which saw the building of the former Red Devil Gymnasium and Hall’s first cinder track. He instituted girls athletics at Hall, the former Hall Shootout and the Colmone Classic basketball tournament

According to the news release, Pampe will offer several services, including osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT), preventive care, chronic disease management and mental health care.

PYSL is for children aged four to 14. Players must be four years old by Aug. 31, 2025, and no older than 14 as of September 1, 2012, to enroll. PYSL is located in Princeton. The league accepts players from all surrounding communities.

The drawing took place on Friday, July 18, at McNabb Motorsports.

Wyatt Novotny has a promising senior season on the tee block this fall at Bureau Valley. He’s off to a good start this summer, coming home with a second-place finish at the Summer Armour Nationals in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The 2025 Manlius Fun Day Parade will be held Saturday, Aug. 2. Lineup starts at 10 a.m. with the parade to start at 11 a.m.

Entries are being accepted for the 2025 Princeton Junior Woman’s Club Homestead Baby Contest.

Gateway Services is hosting an open house from 3 to 6 p.m. on Friday, July 18, at 14537 Greenhouse Avenue in Granville, the site of a soon-to-open home in their 24-hour residential program.

Lily Bosnich abd Greyson Marincic were named as the St. Bede track & field MVPs for the 2025 season.

On Tuesday evening, local little leaguers had a chance to take the field with the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp baseball team.

Sessions run from early November through mid-May and are held from 8:05 to 10:35 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Children may attend on a flexible schedule. The cost is $2 per day.

Girls from around the Illinois Valley teamed up on the Lions Jrs Starved Rock 16 Red club team to a fifth-place finish out of 151 teams in the prestigious AAU Nationals Volleyball Tournament recently in Orlando, Fla.

Vocal soloist and Princeton native Alison Kautz Ayala will be featured in Sunday’s Princeton Community Band concert. She will be singing “You Raise Me Up.” The concert will start at 6 p.m.Sunday at Soldiers and Sailors Park in Princeton.