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Tuesday, May 13, 2014
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Stamp Out Hunger is a success Record-breaking response from area residents By BCR
staff
news@bcrnews.com
Bureau County food pantries got a boost this weekend through the 22nd annual Stamp Out Hunger food collections sponsored around the county.
The annual Stamp Out Hunger drive is a joint effort between the U.S. Postal Service, the National Association of Letter Carriers, which handles urban delivery, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association and the Campbell Soup company.
On Monday, Princeton Postmaster Shannon Mattingly said Saturday’s collection for Princeton and its rural carriers was a recordbreaking one, with 12,735 pounds of items collected for the Bureau County Food Pantry in Princeton.
“We are all so pleased with the generosity of the community. This is a new record for us,” Mattingly said. “I heard over the weekend that the Quad Cities brought in 95,000 pounds of food which is fantastic but when you look at it per capita, Princeton was by far the most generous I’ve ever seen. It makes me really proud
and happy to be part of this community.” In Spring Valley, Hall Township Food Pantry director Jan Martin said the food pantry received about 2,200 pounds of items from Saturday’s postal collection, which was up about 200 pounds from the amount received from last year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Plus,
there were also some monetary donations which helps a lot since food pantries can buy things at reduced costs from area food banks, she said. The needs at the Hall Township Food Pantry are definitely greater during the summer since children aren’t getting any
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Fire in Walnut Red Cross assists residents By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
WALNUT — The cause of a Saturday afternoon fire at the Walnut Grove apartment building in Walnut has been determined to be electrical in nature. On Monday, Walnut Assistant Fire Chief Jon Davis said Saturday’s fire started in a downstairs apartment in the central portion of the twostory building, which has 18 apartments. Two of the apartments received severe damage, while two other apartments had smoke damage. Some of the remaining apartments may also have some smoke odor damage, Davis said. None of the residents have been allowed to move back into the building at this time, the assistant chief said. The Walnut Fire Department received the emergency call at about 3:20 p.m. Saturday to respond to the apartment building fire on Walnut Grove Street. Upon arrival, firefighters saw smoke from under the eaves of the central section of the two-story building. Everyone was already out of the building, Davis said. Emergency personnel were on the scene for about four hours, Davis said. There were no injuries to residents or firefighters, he said. Responding to the scene with mutual aid were the fire departments from Ohio, Manlius, Tampico, Princeton and Rock Falls. The state fire marshal was
Fire Page 4 Year 168 No. 57 One Section - 16 Pages
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BCR photo/Goldie Currie
Princeton resident Dennis Nink is a local avid bike rider. What started as just an activity to try out on his rest days during his weekly workout routines, turned into a more aggressive sport he’s focused more and more on over the years. Today, Nink hits the bike routes up to four times a week when the weather is good. He will be one of many taking advantage of National Bike Month.
May is National Bike Month By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — With May being National Bike Month, it’s the perfect time to gear up for a ride with family and friends or consider taking the bike to work a couple times this week, with summer weather well on
its way. National Bike Month was established in 1956 by the League of American Bicyclists. It showcases the benefits of bicycling, and encourages many to give biking a try. Princeton resident Dennis Nink is an avid bike rider. During good weather, he’s known to be out and about three to
four times a week. A bike ride for him consists of riding anywhere between 20 and 50 miles. To Nink, who is also a Princeton Park Board member, the positive benefits of biking are endless. “There’s the cardiovascular benefit, strength benefit and it works the core. To some degree it gets you to enjoy
exercise. You can go ahead and do something you enjoy and it gives you a great way to cross train,” he said. “Also, you can go fast, it’s a lot cooler, you get to see a lot more things while riding and you can talk with people if you’re biking in a group.”
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