Last weekend, I drove north and spent a couple days in Chicago to attend the Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. This annual four-day event brings agricultural leaders from around the state to the Palmer House in downtown Chicago. This meeting is meant to bring everyone together to conduct the business of Illinois’ top Agricultural organization and to set policy guides that will enhance their advocacy efforts in Springfield and Washington over the next year.
This is a great event that I thoroughly look forward to attending every year. It is a wonderful opportunity for legislators to visit with some of the top Farmers in the State and to learn what issues are paramount to creating a successful environment for Agriculture in Illinois. The Illinois Farm Bureau meeting is an especially important event for me since I got my start politically advocating on behalf of Farm Bureau, and I fondly recalled the days when I came to that meeting year after year, representing Vermilion County as a delegate. Thank you to both Vermilion and Champaign County Farm Bureaus for their hospitality, inviting us up to take part in the Annual Meeting.
Every year, Westville School District puts together a great Holiday Lunch for Seniors, where they serve hundreds of people in our community a great Turkey dinner. This is about the 5th year in a row I’ve been honored to be invited to come and serve food with the students and faculty at Westville. It is always a wonderful event and a great place to visit with a lot of Seniors before and after the meals are served. Thank you to Superintendent Seth Miller, the Faculty, and the Westville Board for putting on such a great event for Westville’s Senior Citizens.
On Thursday, Senator Bennett and I had our first joint traveling office hours together at the Rantoul Area Chamber of Commerce. I would like to thank Amanda Vickery from the Chamber for hosting, Rantoul Administrator Scott Eisenhauer for coming to give the attendees an update on the exciting things happening in Rantoul, and all our constituents that came to speak with the Senator and me. I greatly appreciate the Senator partnering with me on this effort.
It has been a pleasure working with and getting to know Senator Bennett since my time as the County Board Chairman. The two of us don’t always agree on everything, but I always know that even though we are from different parties and sometimes have different opinions that the Senator has the best interest of the State and of his District at heart. When you have that confidence in someone’s intentions, you can respect each other and work to find common ground even though your views maybe different. It was great to partner with the Senator and I was thrilled at the turnout. The Chamber office was packed with constituents looking to talk to their elected officials. Thank you to the citizens of Rantoul for taking such an interest in your State Government.
