Libertyville Savings Bank

Libertyville Savings Bank (LSB) has been sponsoring financial literacy programs at 4 local schools for the last several years, most recently through a company called Banzai that focuses on making the tools fun to use. Each student runs through real life scenarios where they must make budgeting decisions in order to “win” the game. When asked about the program; Kylie Martin, a student at Fairfield High School commented, “I think Banzai was a helpful learning tool in my intro to business class. It gave examples of scenarios that could happen in real life and provided real life decisions you would have to make. It was enjoyable to use because it gave you a real perspective on real life scenarios and how you can be prepared for and handle them.” Teachers love the Banzai program as well. Many classes are required to provide some level of financial literacy to students and the Banzai program meets those requirements. One of the classes that LSB sponsors is the 3rd grade at Pence Elementary. …

I’ve never touted myself as an acclaimed farm wife.You’ll never see me baling hay, driving the combine or pulling a calf.I wish the desire to be hands on came naturally for me, but it doesn’t.I love living on the farm and it’s my favorite place to be, but I’m a better behind-the-scenes person.I like handling the other responsibilities that keep the day to day running of the farm flowing smoothly, leaving my husband free to focus on the big stuff.
There are many times when being more hands on would come in handy.This spring we had four heifers get out, and of course I was home alone.I think the cows wait until they know I’m the only one home and plot their escape, then they just sit back and watch me, laughing at my ineptitude.How hard can it be to get 4 heifers back in? For me, impossible.I got two of the four back in, but 50% doesn’t cut it in this situation.The other two seemed content walking down the gravel road, heading to town…opposite direction from their pasture. I tried for qu…

My husband and I had lived in town for 35 years when we found a house out by Lake Sugema that we decided to buy.Not only was there a house, but there was a big shop located on the property.My husband Bob had always wanted to raise registered labs, and this building was the perfect spot for this.And so, it began.We’ve had numerous litters over the last four years and every time a new litter is born it’s so exciting.

The first couple weeks the Mommy takes care of the puppies all on her own.When the puppies are two weeks old their eyes are open, and they are ready for their first worming.We give them a liquid dosage, according to their weight, and then they don’t need to be wormed again until they are four weeks old.At the next worming, they are playful, and are a little harder to convince that the wormer tastes good.They are strong and try to spit it back out.By the time they are 5-6 weeks old the pup’s mom is happy to go back outside to her normal life and be done with the puppies.The p…