Dear editor, This coming Friday, October 10, 2025, from 8 am to 12:00 noon, the Village of Milan will be having its semi-annual Fall Cleanup. There will be rolloffs at the Village of Milan's Office Complex next to El Ranchero. There will be a loader to help lift your heavy junk, trash, weeds and tires. Please come and join in this great community clean-up effort!
The City of Grants will be having its Fall Cleanup this coming Saturday, October 11, 2025, 8:00 am to 12:00 noon! There will be roll-offs at the Grants Police Department, with a loader and operator to help you get your heavy junk, trash and weeds into the bins. There will be volunteers meeting at the Amphitheater at the Riverwalk Park!
There is nothing that brings communities together like a community cleanup! Come show your pride in the Village and City where you live! Clean communities bring more economic development and that means more jobs and prosperity! We need your help and we want to fill these roll-offs!
Robert S. Windhorst Code Enforcement Officer, City of Grants Say Grats at Dinner
Dear Editor, When we read in this newspaper about problems and tragedies it's easy to become distressed. To increase happiness, think about things for which you have gratitude. My family does this at the end of dinner when we say 'grats.' This involves one person telling us three things for which she or he is grateful. Then we have a conversation about what was said. Being the old guy at the table, I often discuss how one of those things was different in earlier times. For example, if televisions are cited, I might talk about how, when I was young, we didn't have one, and that the first tv's had small screens and took a while to 'warm up' before a low-quality black and white image grudgingly appeared. The only rule we have is that grats shouldn't involve a person at the table. Otherwise, they can be anything--big or small. Examples: freedom of speech, paper towels, email, volunteers, toothbrushes, friends, pie, plastic, sunshine, living in America, electricity, teachers, parks, and music. Grats has sparked a lot of good conversation and made us more appreciative of the lives we have. Try it. You'll like it.
Sincerely, Gary Jump, Itasca, IL