This Old House

Below are pictures of a house that I drive by, walk by, and run by daily...

I LOVE this old house.

It's vacant... Has been for years. We've been in our house for 10-1/2 years and I don't think anyone has lived in it during that time.

I'd love to see the inside of it, and would REALLY love to be able to use it for some photo shoots... but, after meeting the owner for the first time today... I'm not seeing that as a possibility.

It makes me sad to see this old house... This beautiful, historic, stately, old house... Empty, lifeless, and forgotten.


















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18:365 Cookie Talk on @WJBC

18:365 Cookie Talk on @WJBC, originally uploaded by Mark Sexton Photography.

Savannah and I had the opportunity to be on WJBC AM 1230 today to talk about our Girl Scout theft, which turned into an AWESOME chance to talk up Girl Scouts in general and what the cookie sales mean to them. To listen to the interview, go to WJBC

Visit my blog at http://strouthion.blogspot.com

17:365 Thief In The Night

17:365 Thief In The Night, originally uploaded by Mark Sexton Photography.

We woke up this morning to discover my daughter had 60 boxes of Girl Scout cookies stolen out of our van last night... Needless to say our daughter Savannah was heartbroken. Her troop is one of only 2-3 in Central Illinois that had the opportunity to direct sell cookies while all other troops can ONLY take orders for delivery in March (the common way Girl Scout cookies are sold). We're hopeful that somehow the greedy dirtbag that steals from Girl Scouts will be caught... Or maybe chokes to death on a Thin Mint!!! If you live in Bloomington/Normal and someone suspicious is selling Girl Scout cookies... Please contact the Bloomington Police Department ASAP.

Union Rejects WEEK/WHOI Offer, Plans Rally

The WEEK/WHOI contract struggle continues in Peoria/Bloomington... Please read the following Pantagraph story on recent happenings with the contract talks.

Union rejects WEEK/WHOI offer, plans rally

Please let your voice be heard by contacting those listed in my previous post (link is above).

Pinewood Derby 2011

Andrew had the opportunity to participate in his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby this year... His troop's derby took place this past Tuesday, February 22nd. Here are a few images from the event...

What a FUN time for the whole family :-) Andrew had the 6th fastest averaged time for his four races. He won one race and two others was beaten by a nose (literally)... He was smiling from ear to ear throughout the whole derby, keeping a close eye on the screen showing the results of each race, who was up next, and current leading times. He was pretty disappointed to find out it the derby is only for Cub Scouts and he won't be able to participate next year.

Classroom Fire at Bent Elementary School

Many of you are already aware of a tragic event that took place at Bent Elementary School Saturday, February 21st. For those of you who aren't aware... Bent Elementary School was broken into and a classroom was vandalized and a fire started. Due to this senseless act, Mrs. Koch and her 26 students have lost all their materials and supplies for teaching/learning. The class has been temporarily moved to the music room at Bent School unil their room can be restored. (For more on this story see The Pantagraph)

However... the loss for Mrs. Koch and the students is significant. Mrs. Koch has been teaching for 25 years... She had accumulated a tremendous amount of materials, resources, books, supplies, etc. for her teaching. Student records, lesson plans, portfolios, pictures, bulletin boards, carpets, etc. have all been destroyed. Daily worksheets already copied for the remainder of the school year, workbooks and reading books are gone.

Many tears were shed on Saturday and Sunday when the tragedy was reported to teachers, parents and students. But, when I took Savannah to school on Monday morning (she asked me to walk into the school with her)  I was very impressed with the setup of the "music condo" (what Mrs. Koch and the students are calling their temporary home). Wall decorations, pencil/crayon boxes on every desk, computers... it appeared to be a completely supplied classroom. Mrs. Koch was smiling and eager to start their day.

However, there is a lot missing from this classroom and it's an incomplete learning environment... The parents of the students effected by this incident want to make sure the environment, supplies, resources and materials are returned to normal or better as quickly as possible with as little learning loss to the students and burden to Mrs. Koch. But, we're going to need some help in doing this.

Two things are being organized:

1. Collection of donations for supplies, materials, resources and room decorations through a local school supply store
   
2. Bookfair/gift card purchases through a local bookstore
   

All of this is having to be planned quickly due to the complete loss of supplies, materials, resources and books. Like I said before, we want to return the classroom to as normal a learning environment as it was before, or better. Mrs. Koch had 25 years invested in her classroom... she had the "daily operations" down to a loving routine. But that routine has been severely interupted.

As we finalize the above plans I will pass on the information for how the community (and beyond) can help.