It has been a standout spring for Delavan High School’s Elisha Waggoner, whose talents in both the performing arts and competitive speaking have earned him recognition across the state — and now a spot in the next round of the Optimist Oratorical Contest.

Waggoner, who recently held a starring role in the high‑energy Delavan High School production of Newsies, added another achievement to his growing list this month by placing 14th at the IHSA State Speech Competition in Prose Reading. His performance capped a strong season with the Mighty Panther Speech Team, where he has become known for his expressive delivery and thoughtful interpretation.

His success didn’t stop there. Waggoner also won the Delavan Optimist Club’s Oratorical Contest, earning a $250 award and the opportunity to advance to the zone‑level competition in Rockford on April 11. The winner of that event will move on to the District level, where a scholarship is on the line.

A panel of three judges, all members of the Delavan Optimist Club, evaluated contestants using a detailed scoring rubric that measured content, poise, delivery and overall effectiveness. In a rare outcome, each judge independently awarded Waggoner a perfect score, underscoring the strength of both his message and his presentation.

This year’s contest theme — “The Moment I Realized I Belonged — My Definition of Community” — invited students to reflect on connection, identity and the places where they find support. Waggoner delivered a stirring and heartfelt speech centered on his journey with the Mighty Panther Speech Team. He spoke about discovering a sense of belonging through the friendships, encouragement and shared purpose he found among his teammates.

Optimist Club members praised both the depth of his message and the sincerity of his delivery, noting how clearly he articulated the impact of community on his growth as a student and performer.

With a standout theater performance, a strong showing at State and now a chance to compete at the next level of the Optimist Oratorical program, Waggoner’s spring season reflects both talent and heart — qualities that continue to make him a leader among Delavan’s young performers and speakers.

The southern half of the Hall Building’s downstairs level has taken on new life as the “Connection Nook,” a communal gathering space introduced to the public during an open house on Sunday, March 22. The building, located at 414 Locust St. and recently purchased by Dale and Frances Birkey, is already becoming a hub for reflection, conversation and community connection.

Frances Birkey—well known as a death educator and guide, as well as a grief support specialist and educator—envisioned a place where people could talk openly about topics that are often avoided. “We don’t talk about death,” Birkey said during Sunday’s event. “It’s a natural part of life, and we should be able to talk about it.”

The name “Connection Nook” was inspired by the small private booths tucked along the back of the storefront, cozy spaces that lend themselves to quiet conversation. While Birkey plans to host events related to her work as a death guide and educator a few times each week, she emphasized that the Nook is meant to serve the broader community. Her hope is that local groups, clubs and neighbors will use the space for gatherings, discussions, and creative connection.

In addition to her in‑person work, Birkey also hosts The Caring Death Doula podcast, available on Apple and Spotify, where she explores themes of mortality, grief and compassionate support.

With its welcoming atmosphere and flexible purpose, the Connection Nook adds a thoughtful new dimension to the Hall Building and to Delavan’s growing landscape of community spaces.

For a small Midwestern town, Delavan has produced its share of memorable figures, but few are as intriguing—or as artistically significant—as Julia Thecla, the painter whose dreamlike visions once captivated Chicago’s modern art circles. Born Julia Thecla Connell on February 28, 1896, she grew up as the second‑youngest of five children in Delavan, where her early artistic talent was unmistakable. At just 12 years old, she won first prize in a county drawing contest, a moment that hinted at the imaginative force she would later become.

After graduating from Delavan High School in 1913, Thecla briefly attended Illinois State University in Normal—then a teacher‑training college—before taking a job instructing first through seventh‑grade students in a rural Tazewell County schoolhouse. Teaching was steady work, but it wasn’t her calling. Around 1920, in her early twenties, she made a dramatic break: she moved to Chicago, severed ties with her family and adopted “Thecla” as her surname. She offered different explanations for the change over the years, adding to the air of mystery that would come to surround her.

In Chicago, Thecla enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studying for a total of two years while supporting herself with intermittent jobs. Her early artistic development was shaped by the city’s vibrant creative scene, but she forged a path distinctly her own. Working primarily in watercolor, she embraced fantasy, surrealism and magical realism—styles that allowed her to explore the boundaries between the real and the imagined. Critics often described her paintings as “jewel‑like” or “enchanted,” and she frequently used herself as a model, creating intimate, otherworldly scenes centered on the female form.

Her rise in the art world began in 1931, when her work was accepted into the annual International Watercolor Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. She would exhibit there every year through 1936, and again from 1940 to 1944, establishing herself as a consistent and compelling presence in the Midwest’s modern art movement. By the 1940s, her work was being shown nationwide. In 1943, she reached a career milestone when the Museum of Modern Art in New York included her in an exhibition, and that same year she was featured in Peggy Guggenheim’s influential Exhibition by 31 Women at the Art of This Century gallery—an important moment in the recognition of women artists in the United States.

Like many artists of her era, Thecla supplemented her income with practical work. She held jobs as an industrial artist, office worker, and art restorer. Her restoration work, in particular, sharpened her attention to detail—an attribute that became a hallmark of her intricate, fantastical compositions. From 1938 to 1942, she was employed by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, contributing to the “easel division” during a period when federal support helped sustain American artists through the Great Depression.

Though best known for her paintings, Thecla also wrote poetry throughout her life. She published only one poem, believing the rest too personal to share. Tragically, most of her manuscripts were lost in 1969 when she was forced to vacate her longtime apartment due to renovation. The move marked the beginning of a difficult final chapter. She stayed with friends and family for a time, but by 1971 she had entered a nursing home, where she remained until her death on June 29, 1973, at age 77.

In the decades following her death, Thecla’s work faded from public memory. Scholars have pointed to several reasons: the mid‑century shift toward abstraction, the chronic underrecognition of women artists and persistent rumors about her mental health—rumors that later researchers have challenged. Yet even as her name slipped from mainstream art history, her paintings endured, quietly preserved in museum collections. As of 2012, the Art Institute of Chicago holds five of her works, though none are on public display, and the Chicago History Museum owns at least one more.

Interest in Thecla has grown in recent years. A 2006 exhibition at the DePaul University Art Museum showcased 35 of her paintings, describing her as a “forgotten Chicago artist” whose ethereal portrayals of dreams, fairytales and imagined worlds offered “extraordinary explorations of alternative social orders.” In 2022, two of her works—including the 1952 piece Amorphous Ones—were featured in a Hirshhorn Museum exhibition highlighting women artists and reexamining the modernist canon.

For Delavan, Julia Thecla remains a hometown figure whose life story bridges rural beginnings and cosmopolitan creativity. Her journey—from a farm‑town childhood to the avant‑garde galleries of New York and Chicago—reflects both the possibilities and the complexities of artistic ambition in the 20th century. Though she left Delavan physically, the town remains an essential part of her narrative: the place where her talent first took root, where she learned to see the world with curiosity and where her story continues to inspire.

Today, as museums and scholars work to restore her place in American art history, Delavan can take pride in remembering Julia Thecla not as a forgotten figure, but as a visionary whose imagination carried her far beyond the prairie—and whose legacy is finally being rediscovered.

TAZEWELL COUNTY

Parcel Numbers 01-01-13-100-009 and 01-01-14-200-003, Tazewell County: Ellen J. Kleczek to Knapp Concrete Contractors Inc., $525,000.

CREVE COEUR

125 Sherwood Court, Creve Coeur: Debra A. and Michael R. Henry to Greg and Sue Huser, $232,500.

EAST PEORIA

331 McKinley St., East Peoria: Peoria Heights Properties LLC to Jada C. Holt, $115,000.

134 Field Grove Court, East Peoria: Record Summer to Chandler C. and Jean A. O’Brien, $155,000.

HOPEDALE

27419 Toboggan Ave., Hopedale: Laura K. and Roland L. Martin to Jessica and Luke Birkey, $190,000.

221 NE 3rd St., Hopedale: Logan K. Gordinier and Morgan Sigler to Amanda E. and Darrell P. Stribling, $199,900.

104 Hittle St., Hopedale: Hopedale Medical Foundation Inc. to Jameson M. Napier and Isolina R. Rossi, $405,000.

MACKINAW

111 W. Fast Ave., Mackinaw: Joseph M. III and Kayla B. Genusa to Brent Denniston, $170,000.

29724 Allentown Road, Mackinaw: Pamela J. Williams to Joseph M. III and Kayla B. Genusa, $345,000.

MORTON

662 S. Fourth Ave., Unit 26, Morton: Jacqueline J. Fortman to Schain Squier, $94,500.

12 E. Jackson St., Morton: Bank of Pontiac to Village of Morton, $95,000.

1210, 1218 & 1222 Whippoorwill Road, Morton: BLH LLC Series Tennessee to Amre Design Build LLC, $174,000.

109 W. Chicago St., Morton: Bluegrass Summit Designs LLC to Andrew Schaefer, $189,000.

224 Mount Aire Drive, East Peoria: Jordan M. Herring to Hayden Hileman, $189,900.

1065-1067 E. Polk St., Morton: Tim L. Beutel to Christopher J. Baumann, $390,000.

71 Sapphire Point, Morton: Kelsey L. Milman and Stephen R. Williams to Abigail G. and Torin N. Rapp, $795,000.

PEKIN

300 South St., Pekin: Kevin Hunt to JDB4 Investments LLC, $90,000.

415 Manor St., Pekin: Micah Bouillon to Kyle and Rachel Johner, $134,900.

626 Market St., Pekin: Rincon Investments and Holdings LLC to Shannon Davies and George Stringham, $155,000.

412 Washington St., Pekin: Zachary Cihi and Tri County Real Estate LLC to Julian and Lindsey Magana, $169,900.

1304 Royal Ave., Pekin: Chitown REI LLC to Bryce Davis, $170,000.

808 Park Ave., Pekin: Lisa G. Sheehan to Gerald L. and Pamela G. Wicklein, $221,450.

18735 Red Shale Hill Road, Pekin: Joshua K. and Laura M. Lohnes to Jamie N. and Mark W. Baer, $490,000.

WASHINGTON

107 Oriental, Washington: Mary Beth Brashers and Heidi Lecrone to Adam and Gerald Knickerbocker, $110,000.

118 Florida Ave., Washington: Breanna, Gina and Ted Baker to Brittany Lowrance and Erin Owens, $113,500.

1102 Tottenham Court, Washington: Bradley W. and Reta K. Swearingen to Jennifer and Robert J. Pickerill, $460,000.