ORION—The Orion Charger boys basketball players and cheerleaders will celebrate the Sweet Sixteen season with an awards banquet at 6 p.m. Monday, March 15, in the commons at Orion High School.

ORION—Charger sophomore Tanner Williams will be competing in the preliminary round of the state slam dunk contest tonight.

ORION—Orion High School strives to prepare its students to succeed in difficult times, according to Chris Baumann, director of vocational education. In this day and age, students need to be lifelong learners, she said. “The key is education,” Baumann said. “You’re going to have to have some advanced training past high school.” Further training does not need to include a four-year college degree, she said.

ORION—2009 was one of Main Street Orion’s most successful years, Main Street president Kevin Roberts said. “We accomplished a great deal,” he said. Last year, the Orion Village Board challenged Main Street to do more for the community, Village President Jim Cooper said. The group came through.

DeKALB—Two Orion Middle School wrestlers will compete in the IESA state tournament next weekend.

ORION—Unlike the state’s, the village of Orion’s finances are fine. “We’re good, we’re in the black,” Village President Jim Cooper said. “We’re not in any kind of budget deficit at all. Our budget is quite limited, and the reason we’re as good as we are is we have Village Clerk Lori Sampson and finance committee members Mel Drucker and Deano O’Leary watching our expenses closely.”

ORION—Plans already are underway for the 38th Orion Fall Festival, which will be held Labor Day weekend. A food tent, pork chop dinner, carnival, parade, arts and crafts, kids events, an ice cream social and pie auction will bring crowds to Central Park from 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, through 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 5.

BUSHNELL—Overcoming a 14-point deficit in the first quarter, the Orion Chargers fought through two overtimes before succumbing 76-65 to the Lewistown Indians in the sectional championship basketball game on Friday, March 5, at Bushnell-Prairie City High School.

ORION—Main Street Orion has selected Subway as one of the Businesses of the Month.

ORION—Dr. Max McCaw began practicing medicine in 1977 and moved to his present location on 11th Avenue, Orion, in 2006. He, his wife, Carrie, and their staff are here to meet the medical needs of local families. The McCaws are a local family themselves.

ANDOVER—Augustana Lutheran Church, Andover, has a new pastor. Coming from the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, Wis., Jan Veseth began moving into the parsonage on Tuesday, March 2. She will begin her duties on March 15, with her first sermon on March 21.

ANDOVER—To raise money for Andover’s 175th anniversary festival this summer, a pie contest and auction will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, March 14, in Luther Hall at Augustana Lutheran Church, Andover.

A spaghetti supper fundraiser will be held Friday, March 19 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Rock Youth Center, Geneseo.

ORION—The Orion school board will vote Wednesday, March 17, on a list of budget cuts for 2010-11, but that vote is not the end of the budget preparation process. District officials want to know what residents think about the budget.