The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
- The Quill
On Monday, March 6, 2023, more than 100 Republicans gathered at Mama’s Place in Oquawka, Illinois for the annual Henderson County Republican Lincoln Day banquet. The crowd enjoyed a chicken and ham dinner with all the trimmings.
After the delightful dinner those in attendance had the opportunity to hear prominent Republican office holders throughout the region share their backgrounds and goals for the future of the Henderson County, Illinois and for America.
John Riley served as the emcee and introduced the speakers. He and the Republican Central Committee did an outstanding job of organizing the dinner and obtaining the guest speakers.
Lisa Holder White, an Illinois Supreme Court Justice, impressed the audience with her background and view of her responsibility as a Justice on the Illinois court. She is very intelligent and will do a great job when it comes to defending the state and national constitutions from wayward interpretations of the law.
Neal Anderson, the State Senator of the 47th District in Illinois, gave a very moving talk about the importance of the coming April election with a focus on School Board elections.
He pointed out that Illinois Democratic Governor Pritzker has given direction to the Illinois School Districts to include certain material and mandates in their curriculums which the Republicans believe have no place in our schools.
Some school districts in states controlled by the Democrat party have introduced “Critical Race Theory” as well as gender studies which are taught to children in grade school.
For those not familiar with these courses that are being thrust upon the youth, it would be a good idea to find out what it is all about.
The important thing to know is that the schools in the West Central District get in the neighborhood of 57% of the property tax dollars.
The school board members are the direct link to the schools and they are charged to insure the curriculum offered to the children is proper and wholesome.
To date West Central has not made these changes but it will take a strong school board to reject this type of material if the state makes a push to implement them here.
Three of the candidates running for the West Central School Board were present at the Lincoln Dinner; Lauren Chockley, Karl Gullberg and Josh Higgens.
Rachael Mast, the newly appointed Henderson County States Attorney, introduced herself and shared her background with the audience.
She has experience in trying a wide variety of cases including murder. She and her husband are raising 3 children
The final speaker, Chris Miller, the husband of the Congressional Representative in the 15th district, Mary Miller.
She was unable to attend the dinner as her duties in Washington D.C. kept her busy.
Chris is also a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. His talk was both informative and entertaining.
Following the guest speakers an auction was held with the proceeds going toward the scholarship program. Several hundred dollars was raised for this worthwhile project.