THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: (From Left) Father Timothy Sauppe, Village Trustees Mary Ann Hughes and Gary Delhaye and Roseann Viktora, at the Westville Depot and Historical Museum. (Jennifer Bailey/The News Gazette)
WESTVILLE — Village residents sure know how to put on a big celebration.
The village had 17 days of activities for its sesquicentennial in 2023, and it’s gearing up to be a part of Vermilion County’s 200th anniversary and America’s 250th this year.
A committee is planning a three-day celebration in June.
Westville also is part of the Vermilion County Heritage Trail, a University of Illinois student project that tells the history of coal in the region. Grape Creek and the Westville Depot and Museum are stops along the trail.
Village Trustee Gary Delhaye said he’s trying to get the depot, which dates to 1885, on the National Register of Historic Places. He’s not sure why it wasn’t done originally.
The depot and museum is open on the fourth Sunday of every month from April to Labor Day, and by appointment. It also hosts a bake sale and car show.
Delhaye, born and raised in Westville, said the village is very community orientated and tightknit.
“The collaboration efforts that we always have” are tremendous, Delhaye said about events such as the village’s annual Labor Day weekend celebration, whose parade is the oldest in the area, dating to 1910.
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