We honestly never expected to catch anything, especially me, since it was my first time ever fishing. About an hour and a half into our little trip, we were about to give up and head in when I got a bite. I thought it would end up being just a little tiny fish like most people catch their first time.

I was wrong.

Beginning 6 p.m. May 7, more than 100 Morton elementary and junior high students will take part in “Lay Up a Treasure,” a fundraiser for Haitian Relief.

Abby Kaufman said her adopted son, Misikir, 6, fits right in with his brother and sisters, but he does notice a difference between himself and his family.

With their Lincoln house on the market and a countdown ticker to the end of April, the Greiner family plans to take a one-year hiatus and tour the country in the interest of organ donor promotion.

The theme of the 52nd Annual Illinois Mennonite Relief Sale, “New Hope in the Name of Christ,” will help to provide just that for people devastated by the earthquake that rocked Haiti two months ago.

It is the new game in town ... or at least the T-shirts say so.

On the other hand, it is not all that new. Now in its fifth year, the Morton Pound rugby team has mushed through the muddy fields at McClallen Park playing a game that enjoys the majority of popularity in Europe. Rugby is not the conventional U.S. sport.

Alex Camacho of Morton was born at 34 weeks. Though he was premature, his parents, Angie and Ben Camacho, were told the difficulties he had sucking, swallowing and breathing were nothing to worry about.

The Camachos left Alex in the level two nursery at OSF Saint Francis in Peoria to spend time with their older son, Zach Camacho, on his birthday.

Ben said they had only been away for about four hours when they received a devastating phone call.

“The doctor called and said, ‘Your baby’s dying,’” Angie said.

When Wilbur Meyer’s mother gave him a box of old letters, he removed their stamps to add to his collection and threw the letters in the attic, where they stayed for about 45 years.

About five years ago, his wife, Peggy Meyer, came across the 23 letters, which were the correspondence of a husband, Thomas Blair Wooff, and his wife, Lovinia Jemina Pond Wooff, of Concord. The pair had been separated during the Civil War.

For four of the last five years, the Bill family of Morton spent their early winters constructing a miniature ice-skating rink in their front yard.

A steady mix of water and freezing temperatures have helped the Bill family create a childhood winter playground.

On his first day of training at Morton Family Restaurant, 17-year-old Marcus Bowen met a new group of people and learned the duties of his new job, just as any buser would.

But some would say Bowen, a student with developmental disabilities at Morton High School, had another obstacle to overcome on an already stressful first day of work.

Staci Pollard and her family had only been to the Morton Knights of Columbus fish fry once before, but they said the great food and the Lenten season brought them back for more Friday.

“We’re Catholic and we give up meat on Fridays,” said Pollard. “We’ve only been here during Lent.”

While many take the elevator to avoid huffing and puffing up stairways, 18-year-old Jared Marks ran up 86 flights of stairs — 1,576 steps — by choice Tuesday morning.

Even Google could not help Lucinda Martin find a former Jefferson Elementary teacher that left not only a memory, but also a poem on her wall that reminds her to read past the negative and shed light on the positive.

The print age is still alive. But, new technology rarely eludes staff at Morton Public Library.

Is it challenging for staff at the library?

“Oh, yes!” laughed director Janice Sherman. “I think, secretly, they must love it, because they stick around.”

Dr. Larry Patton's family practice closes

On Dr. Larry Patton’s last day of work, 87-year-old Virginia Oedewaldt was treated for the final time by not just her doctor but also her close friend.

“He hugged me and said, ‘You’re special. I’m going to miss you,” said Oedewaldt, who has been a patient at Jefferson Street Clinic for more than 40 years. “I just feel terrible. I told him he has to stay in business until I’m gone. ... I’ll miss Larry terribly. I feel like I can call on him as a friend,” she said.

Dwaine Relph rides his bike to and from work about three days a week.

The Mortonite, clad in biking attire, makes his way from his home in Morton to his job at Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria ...

Rural Mortonite, Susan Goergen, is an “amateur” ceramist whose works are inspired mostly by nature ...

Morton resident and Days of Grace church member Terry Opper, and his friend and business partner, Daniel Botkin, are sharing their gifts in ways that they hope will spiritually serve the community ...

Jill Murphy faced a bit of a conundrum while planning her wedding in May. But, it was not one that would ruin her big day. In fact, it made for a great memory ...

A few photos taken at about 4 a.m. in downtown Morton when the snow fell the heaviest.