April 2018 Serving Washington Magazine Local Calendar of Events See Inside A Community Publication Provided By MTCO Communications
This month we turn the spotlight to Yvonne Andresen, owner of The Blend located at 1130 Peoria Street in Washington. In 2000, Yvonne moved here from Tucson Arizona where a coffee shop graced every neighborhood. The coffee shop was where life happened. Families met together, studies occurred there, milestones were celebrated, and mom s got away from it all. Washington had no such place so she was inspired to change that. In the fall of 2007, Yvonne opened The Blend, with The Blend Express being added mid-2009. When Yvonne opened The Blend, she had been in the medical field for 25 years and had no prior business experience. By the grace of God and by learning from many mistakes, she is still here today! The Blend strives to be more educated about the coffee they are serving and seek out coffee that has a story. Their coffee is Relationship coffee and its traceability is important. Yvonne is currently on a trip to meet with Mountain Harvest Coffee in Mbale, Uganda. She is meeting the farmers of a small cooperative with hopes of being able to export directly to The Blend. The harvest is in and the scores have been high, so this seems possible. Where Coffee and Community Comes Together is the motto that all decisions are run by at their business. Yvonne s involvement in the community was cemented when she agreed to be on the Chamber of Commerce board of directors. She has held several offices, with last year being president. She also supports the local school systems and churches with donations for their fundraising activities. In addition, each year Yvonne tries to think of something to do in the community such as providing coffee for blood drives at Five Points. This year The Blend is setting up a Free Little Library and seeking other businesses to join in that effort. When speaking of memorable moments, Yvonne s most unforgettable time was after the 2013 tornado. The Blend connected with the community and its businesses in such a vital way words cannot describe. This event was life changing, whether you had damage or not. The Blend constructed a whole rebranding of the cafe and were able to use tornado wood as the inspiration that started the whole project. Where Coffee and Community Comes Together was made real to them and forever changed the way they think about the community and their customers. On The Cover Spring is in the air and on the track and field at Washington High School! The students enjoyed a beatiful, crisp day in mid-march gearing up for their upcoming spring sport seasons. MTCO Communications 220 N. Menard Street Metamora, Illinois 61548 309-367-4197 connected@mtco.com President & CEO Glenn Rauh Vice President & CFO Ann Dickerson Media Manager Editor - Connected Magazine Bob Becraft bbecraft@corp.mtco.com Marketing Manager Editor - Connected Magazine Kip DuBois kdubois@corp.mtco.com Connected Magazine is published monthly by MTCO Communications with corporate office located at 220 North Menard Street, Metamora, Illinois, 61548. The publication is intended for use of the residents of Washington. No article in this issue or any part of this publication may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of the Publisher. For more information about this magazine, or for additional copies, contact Bob Becraft or Kip DuBois at 309-367-4197 or connected@mtco.com. If you have questions or concerns regarding your services, please contact our Customer Service Representatives at (309)367-4197 or 800-859-6826. Copyright 2018 MTCO Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Entertainment & Technology Family Movie Night Unlock the mysteries of the force with Star Wars: The Last Jedi --just released to digimax on Demand on March 27th! New On Demand releases to rent now include Jumanji, Justice League, and A Doggone Adventure. Look for Father Figures, Paddington 2 and more in April! Press the MOVIE or ON DEMAND button on your remote control to access the VOD library. Search the Just In or New Releases folders, or press the yellow button to search for titles you want. When selecting your rental, the Default Purchase PIN is 0000. It s time for another FREE HBO and Cinemax weekend for MTCO digimax customers! Free viewing starts at 6 a.m. on Friday, April 20th and ends at midnight on Monday, April 23rd. The weekend will feature the premiere episode of Westworld, s well as theatrical premieres of War For The Planet of the Apes and Suicide Squad. Cell Phone Stabilizer Vimble is the device that allows you to create photos and videos having a professional look. This premium mobile phone stabilizer has a built in feature of keeping an eye on your face as it automatically tracks you without assistance of a second person. With the help of this phone stabilizer you can easily film the scenes in both portrait and landscape layout. In addition to characteristics like following faces and stabilizing footages, Vimble has camera controls with the help of an integrated control panel. Options like zoom, expose, white balance and focus are possible with built in controls in the handle. It balances the smartphones to remove undesirable movement in the 3D space. The motors, assembled in it, are completely silent, so not to disturb the audio of the recording. More information about this product can be found at www. http://feiyu-tech.com. New Tech Support Option In a hurry? Issues after hours? Need help but don t want to call in? Now you can contact MTCO technical support through ebill! 1. Go to www.mtco.com 2. Click on Trouble Ticket 3. Enter your ebill username and pasword 4. Click on Trouble Ticket on the dashboard. Keep up with Entertainment and Technology news. Add MTCO to your Facebook and Twitter groups, and visit the MTCO Blogspot at www.mtco.com.
Volunteers getting ready to help with the 2017 Take Pride in Washington Clean Up Day. See page six for details on this year s event that takes place on April 21st.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 American Legion Meeting 6:30pm City Council Meeting Five Points 6:30pm Washington Rotary 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Club Meeting 12pm District 308 Board Mtg 7pm District 52 Board Mtg. 7pm 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 City Council Meeting Five Points 6:30pm Washington Park District Board Meeting 6pm Legion Riders Meeting 6pm Washington Rotary Club Meeting 12pm Business After Hours Castaways Consignment 5pm - 7pm Washington Lions Club Mtg. at Kep s 6:30pm District 50 Board Meeting 6:30pm Washington Rotary Club Meeting 12pm WHIP Food Pantry 8:30am - 11am 4:30pm - 6pm TOPS Chapter IL 2194 Mtg. Church of Nazarene 8:30am TOPS Chapter IL 2194 Mtg. Church of Nazarene 8:30am WHIP Food Pantry 8:30am - 11am 4:30pm - 6pm TOPS Chapter IL 2194 Mtg. Church of Nazarene 8:30am Queen of Hearts Drawing American Legion 7pm Central District 51 Board Meeting 7pm Queen of Hearts Drawing American Legion 7pm Queen of Hearts Drawing American Legion 7pm Community Dance Five Points 7pm - 11pm Route 66 Tour 9am Puttin on the Ritz WCHA Multipurpose Room 6pm All-You-Can-Eat Breakfast Taylor Masonic Lodge #98 7am-10am Washington Clean Up Day Wenger Park 8:30am 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Washington Rotary Club Meeting 12pm TOPS Chapter IL 2194 Mtg. Church of Nazarene 8:30am Queen of Hearts Drawing American Legion 7pm 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 Washington Rotary Club Meeting 12pm
In Our Community Route 66 Tour Take a trip down historic Route 66 to beautiful Pontiac, IL. With nine museums in their Museum complex including the 1940 s museum, Route 66 Museum and more! It will be a fun day of tours, shopping, and a nice lunch at the historic Log Cabin Restaurant. Snacks and bottled water will be provided. Lunch is on your own. The tour will take place on Saturday, April 7th departing at 9 a.m. from the Washington Park District. Registration deadline is Friday, March 30th and the cost is $35.00. For more information, contact the Park District at 309-444-9413. Community Dance Dance to your favorites from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and more at the Washington Community Dance on Friday, April 20th from 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. at Five Points Banquet Room. Live performance by Kasino, a classic variety rock band. Advance ticket sales are $6.00 per person or $7.00 at the door. Tickets include light snacks, with a cash bar. Must be 21 years of age or older to attend. Purchase tickets at the Washington Park District Office at 105 S. Spruce Street, or online at www. washingtonparkdistrict.com. Take Pride in Washington The 13th Annual Take Pride in Washington Clean Up Day is Saturday, April 21st. Come out to be a part of this great tradition to help the community by volunteering to pick up litter around Washington! Registration, refreshments, donuts, and assignments begin at 8:30 a.m. at Washington Wenger Park (off Stratford Drive south of Westgate Drive). Welcome and group photo to take place at 8 a.m. Take Pride in Washington t-shirts will be given to the first 250 volunteers. Pre-registration is encouraged. Groups should email Jon Oliphant at joliphant@co.washington.il.us. Individuals please call the chamber at 309-444-9921 or email info@washingtoncoc.com. Puttin on the Ritz The WCHS Band presents Puttin on the Ritz on Saturday, April 7th. Join them for an evening of live musical entertainment, dinner, raffle, and a silent auction to benefit the WCHS Bands. The evening will take place in the Washington High School multipurpose room with dinner starting at 6 p.m. Entertainment to follow from 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. Submit reservations to Melissa Fry at 103 Gloria Parkway, Washington, IL 61571. Cost is $15.00 for general public, $10.00 for band member, and $5.00 if you attend for the entertainment only. Do you have some community news to share with the residents of Washington? Send it to connected@mtco.com, or mail it to us at 220 N. Menard St., Metamora, IL 61548 Attn: Connected Magazine.
We Need Your Community Events Connected Magazine wants to help keep our community in the know. If you have any events happening in our area, please contact Bob or Kip at connected@mtco. com or by calling (309) 367-4197. Sign Up For CodeRed The City of Washington has launched the CodeRED Community Notification System! Residents and businesses are encouraged to enroll in this free service that sends phone/text/email notices in the event of emergency situations or critical community alerts. Examples include evacuation notices, bio-terrorism alerts, boil water notices and missing child reports. To enroll now: https://public.coderedweb.com/cne/en- US/BF832171D755 BSA Troop 206 Is Official A new troop associated with the Boy Scouts of America launched in Washington, IL in February. They have a new website available for more information about them at www.sites.google. com/view/troop206. Their regular Troop Meetings are held on Tuesday nights at Faith Lutheran Church in Washington at 7 p.m. Let s Go Swimming The 2018 Pool Pass will go on sale April 2nd. All NEW season passes must be purchased at the Washington Park District Administration Office located at 105 South Spruce Street. Regular business hours are: Mon-Thurs 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Sunday Closed For more information, contact the Park District at 309-444- 9413 or visit www.washingtonparkdistrict.com. Going To The Movies Washington Christian Village Morning Movie Series presents National Velvet, starring Elizabeth Taylor on April 3rd at 10 a.m. A Movie Trivia game will be held 15 minutes prior to the movie with prizes and a gift basket giveaway. The event is open to the public. Tickets are free for seniors, 62 years and older or $2 per ticket for others. Concessions will be available for an additional fee. Washington Christian Village Morning Movie Series are every other month on the first Tuesday of the month. Don t miss these upcoming shows: April 3rd: National Velvet June 5th: Wizard of Oz August 7th: Mary Poppins October 2nd: Jailhouse Rock December 4th: It s a Wonderful Life For all upcoming events, please visit our website at www.fivepointswashington.org. Washington Fiber Optics Spring is here and MTCO s construction crews are ready to go! Last year we finished our city-wide deployment of a 100% fiber-optic network to offer Internet (with speeds up to 1 Gigabit), TV, and voice to the city of Washington. If you have any questions or want to upgrade to the reliability of a network powered by fiber-optics, call one of MTCO s local service representatives at 800-859-6826 or visit www.mtco.com.
Can You GIG It? Upgrade Now! 100% Fiber Optic connection 1 GIGABIT (that s 1,000 Mbps)! Endless Possibilities with the FASTEST downloads, smoothest streaming, and TV like no other. TV INTERNET VOICE Service bundle speeds start at 100 Mbps! Whether its more devices, streaming, gaming, or you just desire more speed for the way you use the Interent, we ve got you covered today..and in the future. The FASTEST Internet Speeds in the area! Channels in Crystal-Clear More HD Channels than cable! FREE HD to first TV* Optimize whole home performance on ALL your wireless devices with the digimax Wi-Fi GigaCenter for $7/mo.! FREE Install to one computer* FREE Install up to 4 TVs* Single TV & Whole-Home DVR Instant access to over 7000 Video- On Demand TV Shows & Movies! Internet Speed Upgrades: - Upgrade to 250M for an extra $10/mo. - Upgrade to 1 FREE UNLIMITED Long Distance* FREE Calling Feature Package* FREE CallerID on your TV* Caller identification on your TV before the phone rings! Manage your Voice Mail online, automatically deliver to your e-mail, and access from any phone 911 calls go directly to your local dispatcher in an emergency GIG for an extra $40/mo. SAVE with bundled, no gimmick pricing! SELECT Triple Play starting at $117/mo.* SELECT Double Play starting at $99/mo.* Smoother streaming. Faster downloads. Extended Range. Optimize whole home performance on ALL your wireless devices! Worry-Free managed technical support and service. digimax Managed Wi-Fi Service with GigaCenter only $7/mo. MTCO Communications 220 N Menard St., Metamora IL 61548 309.367.4197 800.859.MTCO(6826) www.mtco.com *Limited time offer. 1-yr. agreement required for all discounts. Not available in all areas. Monthly rates are standard, non-promotional rates. Free installation up to 4 TVs (free for up to 8 TVs with 2-yr. agreement). More complex installs may require additional fees. A high-definition TV is required to view HDTV signals. All free and leased installed MTCO equipment (set top boxes, adapters, etc.) remain property of MTCO and must be returned at cancellation or unreturned equipment fee will apply. Location may determine max number of TV s allowed. Unlimited long distance calling for residential service in the continental U.S. only. Cannot be used for business purposes such as telemarketing, broadcast faxes, etc. MTCO may restrict or cancel service if inconsistent with residential voice usage. Actual speeds may vary and are not guaranteed. Internet service data plan includes 1 terabyte per monthly billing period. For more details, see FAQ at www.mtco.com. Federal, state and local taxes, governmental regulatory fees and surcharges, if any, are additional. Other charges, conditions, requirements and restrictions may apply. Offer may not be combined with any other offer and is non-transferrable.