Five of the eight Bureau County high schools held graduation exercises this past weekend — DePue, Ohio, St. Bede, Hall and Bureau Valley. This coming weekend, we’ll see graduates get their diplomas from LaMoille, Crossroads and Princeton. Interspersed with all the high school graduations, there have been several junior high, college, preschool and kindergarten ceremonies.
On behalf of the Bureau County Republican, I’d like to extend our sincere congratulations to all area graduates. May your educational memories stay with you as you continue your journey into the future. May all your dreams come true. We wish you the very best.
Check out some candid photos from the five high school graduations this past weekend on Page 7.
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So what’s the BigDeal? Every Tuesday, the BCR announces its BigDeals! for the week — a couple of opportunity to save our readers some cash on a variety of products and services in the Illinois Valley. You can cash in our these savings at our website at www.bcrnews.com. Following are this week’s BigDeals!:
• Doing your spring cleaning? Get a three-day rental of a carpet cleaning machine for only $11.25 at Johnson’s Carpet Shoppe in Princeton. The rental usually costs $22.50, so that’s a 50 percent savings. This offer does not include the purchase of cleaning products.
• Everybody loves a great snack. Get $20 worth of merchandise for only $10 at Flutterby Gourmet Popcorn in Utica. Enjoy a variety of great treats, including their delicious gourmet popcorn.
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Several of you have enjoyed participating in our contests. The BCR has a new contest I know you’re really going to enjoy.
• Princeton Chamber of Commerce Contest: Go the BCR’s website and click on the “Contest” link in the dark blue line at the top of the page. Scroll down to the Princeton Chamber of Commerce icon on that page. Once you “Like” the Princeton Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page, you’ll be asked to register to win a random drawing for a $150 Chamber gift certificate.
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Can you believe next Monday, May 28, is already Memorial Day? Wow! This spring has seemingly flown by us, don’t you think? Anyway, I know many of you will be planning a cook-out or other special get-together to celebrate the holiday. As you make your Memorial Day weekend plans, I hope you’ll take a few minutes out of your day to attend one (or more) of the Memorial Day ceremonies around the county. If you’ve never gone to one, you’ve missed a lot of very moving moments. If you’re a regular at these events, you understand exactly what I’m talking about ... I think we all feel blessed when we walk away from a Memorial Day service.
Also, keep in mind, there are a lot of folks who spend a great deal of time and energy preparing for these events. Whether its the people who mow the cemeteries and have them looking quite spiffy for this special day or the participants — veterans, speakers, band members — who have readied themselves for the event, I know it would also mean the world to them to see you there. Take the kids, the grandkids, the neighbor kids ... start a tradition — one they’ll hopefully carry with them into the future.
That goes the same for taking flowers to the graves. As kids, we always went with our parents/grandparents to deliver the flowers — a tradition I still observe today. If we don’t show today’s children how important it is to place flowers on the graves of those we love, who will take care of those graves tomorrow?
If you need a listing of the area Memorial Day services, we’ll be publishing a list of the events that have been submitted to us in Thursday’s Bureau County Journal and again in Saturday’s BCR.
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Thought for the day: “Enjoy the little things for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” Robert Brault.
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The BCR will be closed on Monday. Call if you have questions on early advertising deadlines. Have a great week. And remember ... You are important to me and the BCR.
