Pekin Winter Wonderland Festival – Sunday, December 1, 2024

As the chill of December settles in, the spirit of the holiday season comes alive in Pekin, Illinois, with the much-anticipated Winter Wonderland Festival. The streets of Mineral Springs Park will be lined with beautifully decorated Christmas trees. Read More »

Early Furnace Testing: A Crucial Step for Pekin Residents

As the crisp autumn air settles over Pekin, Illinois, it’s time to ensure your home is prepared for the upcoming winter months. One essential task often overlooked is early furnace testing. Read More »

If We Don’t Have It, We Can Find It! The Magic of Interlibrary Loan

A young reader recently got a gaming device for his birthday and was excited to tell one of his favorite librarians about his new gift. His mom mentioned that he had two video games, but was quickly becoming tired of those same two games. Read More »

Congratulations to our 2024 Business & Community Recognition Awards recipients!

The 27th annual event hosted recently acknowledged businesses and organizations in our community for their innovation, successes and milestones. Those honored include the following: Read More »

Jude Smock – Loves Sewing, People, and Life

Jude Smock deploys just five simple words to explain her passion for sewing and for life: “I love what I do.” Read More »

Rooted In Our Hearts: Memories of Karl Jordan

What makes a good neighbor, a great neighbor? Family, friends and neighbors of Mr. Karl Jordan gathered on October 20th to celebrate his life and honor him with a tree planted in his memory. Read More »

Pekin Celebrates 200 Years with “Dragon Dust” Spice Blend

As the city of Pekin celebrates its 200th anniversary, local business Excalibur Seasoning has found a unique way to commemorate this significant milestone. Read More »

Kiwanis Club of Pekin Celebrates 2024-2025 Board of Directors

The Kiwanis year began October 1st and we are excited to announce our Board of Directors for the 2024-2025 year of serving the kids of our community and beyond. Congratulations to the leaders who stepped up to serve! Read More »

Celebrating a Bicentennial Christmas

Pekin’s Friends In Harmony is honored to be the final special event of the year-long Pekin Bicentennial Celebration. They will perform their 2024 show, “Celebrating a Bicentennial Christmas,” December 13 at 7pm and December 14 at 2pm at Pekin Community High School. Read More »

Masonic Lodge of Pekin Donates to Pekin Library

Members of Empire Masonic Lodge of Pekin donated $2,700 to the Pekin Library for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program that provides free books for young readers. Pictured: Library Director Jeff Brooks receiving the donation from members of Empire Lodge. Read More »

Adopt a Family for Christmas

As the holidays quickly approach the YWCA Early Learning Center would like to invite the community to adopt a family for Christmas. If you are interested in adopting a family, there will be light bulb tags hanging in the lobby near the front desk beginning on November 1st. Read More »

Pekin Rotary Club Accepting Grant Applications Until December 1, 2024

The Rotary Club of Pekin is now accepting applications for its annual community grant program. Not-for-profit organizations that serve the Pekin area are encouraged to apply for grants of up to $1,000 to support projects that benefit the local community. Read More »

Pekin Township Is Here to Help

Pekin Township celebrates “Wonderful World” of community involvement. We offer such programs as: Holiday Meals starting in 1986; Food Pantry starting in 1988; Senior Breakfast Club starting in 1994; and Senior Lunches starting in 1994. Read More »

A Boat Named the “City of Pekin”

This month we shine a spotlight on a boat that hauled grain on the Illinois River in the early 20th century. Named the “City of Pekin,” the boat’s history was featured in a story on the front page of the Jan. 8, 1981, Pekin Daily Times, titled, “‘City of Pekin’ Once Plied The Illinois River.” Read More »

Under The Lights: Homecoming Festivities

Homecoming is a week full of fun and festivities for Pekin Community High School (PCHS) students. This year’s homecoming week was from September 30th through October 5th. The week was filled with many fun memories that students will take with them after high school. Read More »

PCHS Future Focus Days Help to Light the Fire Within

Four years is a short period of time in the overall scheme of things and no one knows that better than the staff and faculty at Pekin Community High School. PCHS is fortunate to have one of the most robust Career and Technical Education programs in central Illinois with an ever- growing number of careers represented. Read More »

In Search of History…

The next meeting of the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society will be Tuesday, November 12th at 7 PM when Jared Olar, Local History Program Coordinator at Pekin Public Library, will present the Story of how the Pekin Bicentennial Pictorial came together. Jared will bring a few with him to sell. Read More »

Scout On In Central Illinois – Pekin Twins Are Eagle Scouts X 2

When I asked Tyler W. and Tanner W.* about their birthday, they quickly answered in unison. I laughed but wasn’t surprised considering these two members of Scouting America Troop 62 are twins. Read More »

November is National Family Literacy Month

November is a month in which we celebrate thankfulness for many things. Let this month also be a month in which we are thankful for literacy and its importance in our lives. Established in 1994 by the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL), they worked with Congress to designate November 1st as National Family Literacy Day®. Read More »

Christmas Extravaganza 2024

The Christmas Extravaganza started 20 years ago with maybe five small retail businesses. Cathy Homerin of Artistic Flowers and Mary Haynes, former owner of the Kountry Nook but now owns Maddie Mae’s, are the original members of this event. Read More »

Visitors From the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

The Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds Office was pleased to welcome two Long-Term European Observers from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights on October 16th, 2024. Read More »

A Word from Mayor Mary – Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness

At the City Council meeting on September 23, we presented Erica Frantz with a proclamation supporting awareness of metastatic breast cancer. She shared some of her touching story of surviving with this disease, noting that one of eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and one of three of them will be diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Read More »

The Woman, The Myth, The LEGEND!

I am not going to lie, Pekin. This was not my original planned article. I had one ready to go, but Ginny reached out to me with the idea to start introducing and recognizing staff. I thought this was a great idea, but who should I start with? Read More »

Pekin Wins When You Shop Local

Pekin area business leaders and advocates often talk about supporting small businesses by shopping local during the holidays. After all, revenue from holiday sales can make or break a retailer. Read More »