Don’t forget to come out for Bushnell Day this weekend – we’re celebrating the 125th anniversary of the village! Festivities start at 7:30 AM and continue until around 9 PM. You’re welcome to join us for any part of the day. Johnson’s Surplus, the new secondhand store in town, will have an open house in conjunction with the celebration. Sally and Mark will be there starting at about 11 AM – be sure to drop by and see how much work they’ve done on the building (it’s the old shoe store on 2nd street, next to the café). Calvary United Methodist Church has decided to hold a pie social on Bushnell Day. They will start serving at noon, so grab your pulled pork sandwich from the fire hall or Indian tacos from the park, and then head over to the church for dessert. The Bushnell Day planning committee has chosen Kenneth Taylor as the Grand Marshal for the parade – keep an eye out for him in the convertible!

 

Those of you who couldn’t make it to the village board meeting last week missed out on some heated discussions. It was very well-attended and some hot topics were addressed. The fire chief wanted to remind everyone that permits are required for open burning in town (this doesn’t apply to burn barrels – just open fires such as brush piles). The permits are available in the village office, and there’s no cost involved – it just decreases false alarms if the fire department knows when people are going to be burning.

 

The board did a quick recap of the budget meeting last week, to bring everyone up-to-date on the possible cuts that will occur this year. One idea for saving money is to decrease the number of streetlights in the village, or to ask residents to share in the cost. This was one of the heatedly discussed items that divided the people in the room...It costs $16/month per light, and we have 41 lights in town. Be thinking about whether you’d rather pay for your light or have a dark street corner! I think I’d gladly spend the $200 a year so I can see where I’m going when walking around between buildings after dark. The board will hold a special budget meeting on Thursday, August 25th at 6:30 to continue discussion of village finances. Everyone is welcome to attend.

 

Another hot topic was the discussion of whether or not to allow large animals in village limits, as a potential homebuyer recently asked the board if they were allowed to have horses on the large empty lot next to the house they were thinking about buying. The board made a motion to draft an ordinance that would prohibit large animals within the village (current ones will be grandfathered in).

 

The village health board declared the Bushnell Bar an unsafe building and is pursuing demolition. The board of trustees approved a new sign welcoming visitors to town. We hope to have it up before Bushnell Day, so keep your eyes peeled as you cross the railroad tracks! The next regular board meeting will be on Thursday, September 8th at 7 PM.

 

In other news, Emily and Isabelle Cunis participated in the county fair this weekend. They did a fantastic job of representing Bushnell! Emily showed a dairy heifer and earned a purple ribbon in showmanship and a blue ribbon overall. Isabelle showed a dairy heifer and earned purple ribbons in both showmanship and overall. She also showed a frog in the small animal category and earned a purple ribbon. You can get more details from Isabelle when you visit the lemonade stand she and Lily will have in the park on Saturday…

 

If you have news to share, please contact Jamie Carpenter at sistersgrimmbooks@gmail.com or 308-230-0683. (It appears as if some emails haven’t been going through, so call if you haven’t received a response within a day or two.)