Braving the cold weather on Saturday, October 28th to attend the 95th annual Pinckneyville Mardi Gras paid off for one local resident. Cheryl Epplin spent her early afternoon on Walnut Street at the Vendor Fair and purchased 50/50 tickets from the Chamber tent shortly before noon. The total drawing was at nearly $16,000 at the time she purchased her tickets.  Chamber volunteers continued ticket sales until 3:00pm that day on Walnut street and 5:00pm at Perry County Marketplace. When the parade began at 7:00pm the total drawing was at $22,111. Chamber volunteers made two rounds in the parade selling 50/50 tickets, raising the drawing up to an amazing $39,062! The Pinckneyville Chief of Police drew the winning number 470140 at 8:33pm. Cheryl claimed a certified check in the amount  $19,531 on Monday, October 30, 2017 from the Pinckneyville Chamber of Commerce. The 96th Annual Pinckneyville Mardi Gras will be held on October 27, 2018. Ticket sales will begin on 10.1.18.

The Chamber of Commerce along with the PCHS Counselors held a career buffet on Friday April 28th.

Students from the 8th grade feeder schools up to the PCHS sophomore class were broken up into 13 groups and rotated in 15 minutes increments to all of the career rooms.  There were speakers from a wide range of backgrounds including: Sue Endres & Rose Cartwirght (Medical Coding); Paul Nehrkorn (Cyber-Security); Tom Harness and Kevin Hunsperger (Entrepreneur, WSIL News); Jaci Kelly & Evan Sutton (Dispatch 911, EMT); Trish Francis (Interior Design); Jefferson Defago ( Fitness); Miles Priebe (Nursing/Hospital Provider); Clinton Bigham (FBI); Eugene Talley (Automotive); Sara Rezba (Child Advocacy); Bill Bender & John Mayer (Farming); Alyssa Schmale (Pharmacy); Maddie Sattler (WSIL-TV).

Not shown are the special speakers that were arranged for the Junior Class.

The Chamber appreciates all of the speakers donating their time to give the students a taste of their career choices!

In September of 2016, Patrick, Ashley, Presley, and Arthur purchased The Flower Patch in Pinckneyville, IL.  Since then the family has been busy making updates and putting their personal touches on the business.  There have been updates to the inside of the building consisting of a new layout, and a private consultation space for grieving families.  The community has noticed the amazing facelift the outside of the building received with a fresh coat of a paint, bright new logo, and an updated awning to complete the exterior.

On Saturday, March 4th the family had their open house and ribbon cutting to celebrate The Flower Patch with the community.  It was a beautiful day and they had a wonderful turnout.  Owner Ashley Bathon says “Owning the Flower Patch has been a dream of mine, since I worked there as summer help while attending Rend Lake College.  The opportunity to purchase The Flower Patch came at a perfect time in my life, and my  family was ready to take on this new adventure.”

The Flower Patch is located at 203 South Walnut Street in Pinckneyville, they are open Monday-Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday from 9am-12pm.  You can call them at 618-357-8931, or email them anytime at info@pvilleflowerpatch.com, OR visit them on their new Facebook page “The Flower Patch, LTD.”

This time of year is quite possibly my favorite time!  The Chamber of Commerce honors and recognizes outstanding community volunteers as the “Person of the Year” and amazing companies that are assets to the community as “Business of the Year”.  We also solicit nominations from the school districts for “Educator of the Year”.

The submissions for each of these categories are due on or before March 10, 2017.  The winners will be honored and recognized at the Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner being held on March 24, 2017 at Red Hawk Golf and Grille.

The Person the Year also serves as the Grand Marshal for the 2017 Mardi Gras Parade.  The Business and Educator of the year are also welcome to participate in the parade.

This year the nomination form is available TWO ways.  One is a fillable PDF form, which can then be printed and mailed, or there is a printable PDF form which you can print off and hand fill in your nomination.

Person of the Year Nomination forms:                                            Business of the Year Nomination forms:

2017 Person of the Year Fillable Form                                                           2017 Business of the Year Fillable Form

2017 Person of the Year Printable Form                                                      2017 Business of the Year Printable Form

Past recipients of the Person of the Year are:1998-Dr. Clarence Cawvey, 1999-Kirwan Heisner & Dick Pyatt, 2000-Gerry Luke & Steve Cannedy, 2001-Peggy Sims, 2002-Billie Ray Craig, 2003-Dick Corn, 2004-Glen Hamilton, 2005-Bill & Mary Roe, 2006-Mildred Frazer Wolfe, 2007-Chuck Dobrinick, 2008-Toni Engelhardt, 2009-Loa Runion, 2010-Bonnie Hudgins, 2011-Paulet Loos, 2012-Charlie & Mary Greer, 2013-Duane White, 2014-Bob Giacomo, 2015-Rhonda Shubert, 2016-Steve and Diann Priebe

Past recipients of the Business of the Year are: 2000-BARMAC, 2001-Grecian Steak & Seafood House, 2002-Perry County Marketplace, 2003-Save-A-Lot, 2004-Pinckneyville Community Hospital, 2005-Flower Patch, 2006-First National Bank in Pinckneyville, 2007-McDaniel’s Furniture & Appliances, 2008-Red Hawk Golf Club, 2009-Kuhnert Electric, 2010-Lynn’s Hairstyling, 2011-Caring and Sharing Thrift Shop, 2012-Contempri Homes, 2013-Pinckneyville Ambulance Service, 2014-Kay’s Massage, 2015-Pinckneyville Press, 2016-Dixie Cup

The following themes have been used over the past 20 years and will not be considered: Through the pages of History, Hooray for Holidays, Echoes of a Century, Reflections of Time, Set Sail with the Holidays, A Salute to America, Happiness Is…, Symbols of America, Silver Screen Heroes, Bring on the Music, Woodstock, Disco Fever, Music on Parade, Movie Memories, The Wild West, Family Vacation, Great Inventions, Creatures of the Night, Daydreams and Nightmares, Oh, the places you’ll go.

The submitted themes will be narrowed down to the top ten choices by the Pinckneyville Chamber Board of Directors.  The ten top choices will be brought to the Chamber Annual Dinner on March 31st, and all in attendance will get to vote on the theme.  You will be notified if your theme is one of the top ten!

Pinckneyville Community Hospital Specialty & Outpatient Clinic is an outpatient service in which healthcare specialists provide diagnostic evaluation, treatment, and/or management of health conditions not generally part of family practice care.  Each week, medical specialists travel to Pinckneyville Community Hospital to help our patients get the specialized care they need, close to home. These specialists work closely with the patient’s primary care provider and other health professionals to ensure continuity and appropriateness of care. Our specialty clinics include cardiology, eye surgery, neurology, rheumatology, oncology, OB/GYN, gastroenterology, nephrology, podiatry, pulmonology, general surgery, ENT, orthopedic, and wound care. Many of our outpatient physicians require a referral from the patients care provider.

Specialty Clinics-February 2017

On Friday January 20, 2017 the law firm of Bigham, Tanner, and Foster along with the Pinckneyville Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting at 1:00pm.  Members of the city council along with Chamber Board Members, and community members gathered in the law firms new conference room for the ceremony.  Pictured cutting the ribbon is law firm partner Don Bigham, with partner, Tyson Tanner on the left, associate Charlie Kuhnert on the right, and partner, Matt Foster on far right.

Immediately following the ribbon cutting ceremony the law firm hosted an open house until 4:00pm.  The firm gave tours of the new building as well as offered food and drinks for any visitors.  Anyone that was unable to make the open house is encouraged and welcome to stop by for a tour at 206 North  Main Street in Pinckneyville.