There are not many girls who did not want to dress in mom’s sparkly jewelry, and the adage, diamonds are a girls best friend, is not without its avid believers.

For one East Peoria native, however, diamonds are her job. Melissa Mustain-Dornon, a gemologist, is a diamond buyer for Peoria’s Bremer Jewelry.

An East Peoria native is taking the stage for one of her last performances next weekend in the family musical “The Secret Garden” at Augustana College.

The East Peoria Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner took place Friday night at the Par-A-Dice Hotel. The Citizens of the Year, Business of the Year, Green Company of the Year and Ambassador of the Year were announced.

This weekend between 100 and 300 fans of anime, also known as Japanese animation, will attend a convention, called Anime-zap!, at the Hampton Inn, 11 Winners Way, East Peoria.

“The first year was magical because nobody realized what the children could do.”

Dr. Andrew Morgan, director of the Penguin Project, spoke about the program’s inception and its first production six years ago.

Fussy and grunting in his mother arms, Isaiah Chism was somewhat uncomfortable at the start of class.

But after one hour of massage with the lights dimmed and soothing music in the background, the 6-week-old of East Peoria was silent and appeared to be at peace.

Not only did these three friends jump into 36-degree water for charity, they did so in style.
Standing in a rowdy line at the ninth annual Polar Ice Plunge Friday, Ricky Wood, 25, of East Peoria, along with his best friends, Scott Hay, 26, of Clinton, and Kris Schmidt, 27, of Champaign, each sported a black suit and sombrero — representing three famous characters.

Linda Tosch braves the cold each Tuesday for the four-legged creatures at the Tazewell Animal Protective Society’s no-kill shelter in Pekin.

This volunteer dog walker from East Peoria said she does not do it for money, but for the love of the more than 200 animals at the organization.

Monica Ray of East Peoria turned 21 years old this year, but she seems hard pressed to even find the spare time in her busy schedule to have celebrated.

Ray is now a sophomore at Bradley University and was recruited last January to join the American Red Cross board of directors.

When she was a little girl, Tessa Colburn watched “The Wizard of Oz” with her grandmother. Last week, her grandmother watched Tessa in the Broadway production.

Growing up, Dan Lybarger listened to stories his great-uncle told him at the “talking tree” in front of his grandmother’s home in Canton. The stories were about Lybarger’s Native American relatives and the hardships they endured.

A fundraising event to benefit The Beacon Teen Center at the Glad Tidings Church will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. Oct. 24.

Frank Larkin is a familiar face at Illinois Central College’s Performing Arts Center. For the past 20 years, he has supervised the ushers and coordinated the efforts of the box office staff.

At the age of 87, Larkin is not ready to retire anytime soon.

The American Cancer Society is hosting a new event in East Peoria to honor an often-overlooked caregiver: dogs.

Fon du Lac Park District director Brad Smith wants to get the word out to people who love rollerblade hockey that they have a venue for their sport again in East Peoria.