Community Calendar

Suzette Brumleve Memorial Effingham Public Library in partnership with Effingham Performance Center is pleased to present “This Moment in America – A Conversation with Governor Jim Edgar” at the Effingham Performance Center, 1325 Outer Belt W, Effingham, on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.

The event is open to the public at no cost, but attendees need to pick up tickets from one of the following locations:  Effingham Public Library or the Effingham Performance Center Box Office.  Tickets are available on a first come, first serve basis.

When Edgar became Illinois’ 38th governor in 1991, he inherited what was then the largest budget deficit in the state’s history. Eight years later, he left a $1.5 billion cushion for his successor. The Republican chief executive worked with Democratic legislative majorities for six of his eight years in office to erase the deficit, balance the budget and move the state forward in education and other key areas. The downstate governor worked on a bipartisan basis with representatives and senators from every corner of Illinois––including the four legislative leaders from the Chicago metropolitan area.

As Governor Jim Edgar explains:  “It is vital to Illinois’ future that we develop leaders in the state and community who work together to meet challenges by making regional, ethnic and partisan differences secondary to solving problems.”

To grow leaders, the Governor established the Edgar Fellows Program. The program focuses on developing leadership and governing capacity in Illinois. It emphasizes the need to forthrightly address major policy issues without permitting partisan, ethnic and regional rivalries to trump statesmanship. It is designed to influence attitudes and foster mutual understanding.

Tickets for the free event can be picked up at Effingham Public Library 200 N. Third, Effingham, and the Effingham Performance Center Box Office 1325 Outer Belt W, Effingham.