IN OUR COMMUNITY

Join us for a celebration of community and God’s grace!

Thursday, November 13th, 2025

Doors Open at 6:00 a.m.

Breakfast at 6:15 a.m.

Program begins at 7:00 a.m.

Countryside Banquet and Catering

659 School St.

Washington, IL 61571

*If you are a Chamber member business and would like to receive an invoice for payment, you must register through your member account HERE - https://washingtoncoc.chambermaster.com/eventregistration/register/8461

All others register here: https://washingtonilcoc.com/2025cpb/

Sponsorship opportunities are available! Please contact the Washington Chamber of Commerce at (309) 444-9921 or info@washingtoncoc.com for more information. 

Get in the Holiday Spirit by visiting all the shops on the Washington Square on November 1st and 2nd! The Holiday Open House will run from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on both days. They will be decked out for Christmas, and you can start your Christmas shopping! Most stores begin being open on Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. starting this weekend through Christmas. Santa’s Mailbox will be placed on the Square by W Down Under/Faire Coffee this weekend. (Be sure to include a return address!)

Food Trucks will be on the Square!

Join Lori’s Kitchen Store on the Washington Square as they celebrate Shopping Local and Shopping Small this Holiday Season in Specialty Stores on the square. The annual event is held on November 29th from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Lori’s will be open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with in-store specials.

Stores have different hours, please check with each store.

Nomination forms are now available for 2026 Washingtonian Award, Outstanding Business Award and the Business Beautification Award. Entry deadline is March 1, 2026.

See all the links for the nomination forms at https://washingtonilcoc.com/event/nomination-forms/

It’s Beginning to Look… Absolutely Nothing Like Christmas!

We know — it’s 85 degrees, sunny, and we haven’t seen much rain (or even a hint of winter) in weeks! It’s hard to feel festive when we’re still wearing shorts and sunscreen. But believe it or not, it’s that time to start thinking about Light Up Washington Park!

Our third annual holiday display is just around the corner, and we’d love for you to join in the fun by sponsoring and decorating a tree. The past two years, we’ve had 16 beautifully decorated trees lighting up the park — and this year, we’re aiming for 20+ trees!

Don’t wait for the snow that may never come — reserve your tree today!

🎄 Cost: $100 per tree

🎅 Deadline: November 17

Let’s make Washington Park sparkle (even if it still feels like summer)!

Sign up now!

https://apps.daysmartrecreation.com/dash/x/#/online/wpd/teams/2144 

Join the library and the Washington Historical Society for a visit from local author, Mary Penn! She will be reading a copy of her book, “Ricky’s Rocket.” Copies of the book will be available for purchase. The event will be held at the Washington District Library, 380 N. Wilmor Rd, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on November 1st.

Join in at Five Points Washington every 1st Tuesday (November 4th) of the month in the Senior Room for Washington Park District’s monthly BINGO game. You do not have to be a Five Points member to attend. Bingo begins at 10:00 a.m. and runs to about 11:30 a.m.

The holidays are underway as the “Great American Christmas” FREE Preview is back!  All MTCO digiMAX TV subscribers will have access to watch on Great American Family on channel 496 from Saturday, November 1st to Sunday, November 30th.  Enjoy a full month of faith-based holiday cheer, including a new movie premiere every Saturday at 7:00 p.m. 

Check out the full “Great American Christmas” lineup at https://www.tvguide.com/news/great-american-family-christmas-movie-calendar-2025-the-full-schedule/

These phishing emails copy trusted credit card companies to create panic and urgency, and with a goal to get you to click.  The subject of these scam emails states that “your account is temporarily restricted” or they “need to verify activity.”

For examples of these phishing emails and how to help identify them, visit https://cyberguy.com/scams/beware-fake-credit-card-account-restriction-scams

Here’s some good information to get the most out of your Windows 11 experience.   From tapping Copilot AI to personalizing your taskbar to setting up widgets, here are 31 tips:  https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/31-windows-11-tricks-that-will-change-everything

New Channel - WEEK my Team

MTCO added “my Team” on channel 224, which was launched by WEEK-TV in early October.  my Team is a hybrid of news, sports and entertainment programming – including MyNetwork Primetime. It will be the home of state and regional sports programming including IHSA Championship Football and Basketball, Missouri Valley Conference basketball/ArchMadness, and the Midwest Matrix Sport Network. In addition, 25News Sports Director Jim Mattson will expand his local sports coverage with Jim Mattson’s Overtime, a live sports show that will air every weeknight at 10:30 p.m.

MSNBC Rebrand

The network known as MSNBC (channel 513) will begin going by MS NOW, My Source for News Opinion World, starting November 15th.  The network is being split off from NBCUniversal and will become part of a new publicly traded company called Versant, prompting the name change.

Battlefield 6 was just released and will feature a battle royal mode and is free-to-play, with gameplay dynamics similar to Battlefield V’s Firestorm.  More discussion at:  https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/ea-confirms-free-to-play-battlefield-6-battle-royale-is-coming-out-tomorrow/

Are you considering purchasing a new laptop, Mac, or Chromebook?  Check out this article on how much RAM you may need in 2025: https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-much-ram-do-you-need-in-2025-my-expert-advice-for-windows-and-mac-users/