HSHS Hospice invites community members to join them for a butterfly release ceremony at HSHS St. Francis Hospital on Wednesday, May 22 at 5:30 p.m. in the Circle Drive by the St. Francis statue. 

Valerie Engelbart, Bereavement Services Supervisor for HSHS Hospice, shared, “This butterfly release ceremony provides a special time for families in our community to honor their loved ones. The butterfly represents the transformation of the spirit as our loved ones transition from this life.” 

Family and friends are invited to celebrate and remember the life of a loved one who has passed. The ceremony will include the reading of the names of those being honored in addition to the butterfly release. 

If you would like to participate in the ceremony, please RSVP to Valerie Engelbart, Bereavement Services Supervisor, at 217-685-0702 or email Valerie.engelbart@hshs.org. Butterflies will be released for all those honored, but you are invited to personally release a butterfly for your loved one by reserving a butterfly for $15 to be paid prior to the ceremony. 

You may also reserve a butterfly online by visiting giving.hshs.org/sae/donate and paying by credit or debit card. In the online form, select “Butterfly Release/Hospice Program” under the Designation section and select “This gift is in honor, memory or support of someone” under the Tribute Gift section and fill in the name of your loved one. 

For more information about HSHS St. Francis Hospital, visit stfrancis-litchfield.org. 

Illinois State Police Troop 8 units are handling a Single Vehicle Fatal Traffic Crash on County Line Road and north 22nd Avenue, which is approximately 3 miles west of the Raymond exit in Montgomery County. The crash involves a rolled over concrete truck. The crash investigation is active and no further information is available at this time.

Illinois State Police Troop 8 units are handling a Single Vehicle Fatal Traffic Crash on County Line Road and north 22nd Avenue, which is approximately 3 miles west of the Raymond exit in Montgomery County. The crash involves a rolled over concrete truck. The crash investigation is active and no further information is available at this time.

Illinois State Police Troop 8 units are handling a Single Vehicle Fatal Traffic Crash on County Line Road and north 22nd Avenue, which is approximately 3 miles west of the Raymond exit in Montgomery County. The crash involves a rolled over concrete truck. The crash investigation is active and no further information is available at this time.

 HSHS St. Francis Hospital is collecting worn and faded American flags through Wednesday, June 12. The collected flags will be disposed of in a proper flag retirement ceremony.

Flag collection boxes are located in the main lobby of HSHS St. Francis Hospital at 1215 Franciscan Dr. in Litchfield, and in the hospital’s cafeteria. For more information, contact Mary Meyer at mary.meyer@hshs.org.

Montgomery County Clerk/Recorder Sandy Leitheiser and staff and Montgomery
County Veterans Assistance Commission Superintendent Cassandra Hampton and staff have received an Award of Merit from the Illinois State Historical Society for their recovery and digitization of a World War II Scrapbook at ceremonies held recently in Springfield.
This award is the result of a project completed when a citizen found a scrapbook in
a dumpster in Springfield that catalogued many Montgomery County World War II
veterans. The citizen donated the scrapbook to the Montgomery County Veterans
Assistance Commission, who provided it to the Montgomery County Clerk/Recorder’s office who properly preserved this treasure by first digitizing the scrapbook, thenindexing the materials, and finally creating a website for the public to access. Illinois Historical Society representatives stated “this was an amazing project that will continue to serve the citizens of Montgomery County for years. This project deserves an award
for the loving rescue of a WWII scrapbook that documents the fate of soldiers in the
Montgomery County area during the war.”
Hampton accepted the award for the offices, and she thanked two members of the
Montgomery County Clerk/Recorder’s Office staff, Sydney Holcomb-Barnes and Nicole Witt, for their dedication in compiling this important digital publication. She stated because of their time and talent, the treasured history of many of our beloved Montgomery County Veterans will live on.
The digitized scrapbook can be found on the Montgomery County website at
www.montgomerycountyil.gov. Those accessing the website should select the County Clerk & Recorder page, then the Recording and Fees section, then the Veterans Medals, Memorial Lists and Publications section and locate the link for “World War II Newspaper Publicati ons for Veterans of Montgomery County and Surrounding  Area.”  Anyone needing assistance locating the publication may contact the County Clerk/Recorders office at 217-532-9530.

World-War-II-Newspaper-Publications-Veterans-of-Montgomery-County-and-Surrounding-Area.pdf (montgomerycountyil.gov)