North Egypt News

John A. Logan College hosted its Hunting and Fishing Days at total capacity after COVID restrictions that limited the number of attendees at events, but this year was off campus.

“JALC Hunting and Fishing days! DuQuoin is a fantastic venue for this,” Representative Paul Jacobs wrote on Facebook. “We were able to see all of our favorites in hunting and fishing, but had an additional treat attending the Quilts for Veterans! Local volunteer quilters create beautiful quilts for as many Vets as they can every year.”

The Southern Illinois Hunting and Fishing Days noted that JALC’s event is a part of the state’s celebration of National Hunting and Fishing Days, celebrated on the fourth Saturday of September.

“Just as they did with the Graduation of 2021, the Department of Agriculture has offered their facilities to us so that we can continue this long-standing tradition, and we could not be more thankful,” College President Kirk Overstreet said. “This will be a fun event. The Fairgrounds offers the space and facilities to do many things that we cannot do on campus.”

WSILTV reported Overstreet said its number of visitors doubled compared it its 2021 event.

“Everybody is really having a good time,” Overstreet said to WSILTV. “I’ve had people come up and say, ‘This is great, we’re so glad this happened and we're so glad it's here,’ and it's just been a really good opportunity for us to spread out — this is our district, Du Quoin is part of the John A. Logan district, so we're all one big giant region.”

JALC announced that the event, sponsored by the college and the Illinois Department of Agriculture and title sponsor Black Diamond RV announced a venue change for the event. Generally held on the JALC campus, the event on Sept. 24 and 25 was moved to the Du Quoin State Fair Grounds because of construction on the campus.

The Marion Republican reported Lacy Jones from the Discovery Channel’s “Naked and Afrida” TV show attended the event in 2021.

Jacobs was first elected to the Illinois House in 2020. A Republican, their legislative experience includes serving on the Tourism Committee and Higher Education. Jacobs is a state representative who resides in Pomona, according to the Illinois House.