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F&M Newsletter - November 2003
Buy Now! Sow Your Oats This Spring
Land purchase in mind? With interest rates so low, now is a great time to make that land purchase you’ve been putting off. F & M offers a vast selection of real estate financing options, including state and federal guarantees. Already made a purchase and your loan has a variable rate which is no longer competitive? You may be able to reduce your expenses by refinancing with Farmers and Merchants. Operating Needs? This is also a good time to look at your operating needs for the upcoming crop year. Is your present source of operating funds providing you with the service and rate you deserve? We pride ourselves on “high-touch, personalized service” and very competitive rates. Equipment needs? Do you have an interest waiver from the manufacturer that has expired? Did it convert to a higher rate? We have excellent fixed-rate and variable-rate programs available for new purchases and refinancing.
Whatever your financing needs, we can help you with flexible terms that will meet your needs. Call Doug or Don today at (309) 772-2171 to schedule an appointment and let us help with your new farm financing needs.
Those who may want to consider a flu shot are:
A "MONUMENTAL" GIFT! Bushnell residents are fortunate to have magnificent monuments at the entrances to our city. Now the Bushnell Chamber of Commerce is selling commemorative ornaments based upon the Bushnell monument design. The ornaments are available at all Chamber member businesses including Farmers & Merchants State Bank. These will make the ideal gift for that birthday, anniversary, graduation or farewell party you have coming up, or would be great to have on hand when special occasions arise. Stop by the F & M lobby and ask Missy, Peggy or Erin to assist you with your purchase. Friends in Motion 
Many of our favorite customers are celebrating really big wedding anniversaries. Those celebrating their 65th are James and Maxine McCone of Prairie City and Charles and Elaine Patrick of rural Macomb. Those celebrating their 55th are Peachy and Maella Miller and Jim and Mary Lou Bartlett, all of Bushnell. Bill and Norma Litchfield of Marietta recently enjoyed their 50th. Congratulations to each of you!
Hulda Boden of Prairie City is observing her 105th birthday, Merideth Filbert of Bushnell celebrated his 90th and Eileen Melvin of Macomb celebrated her 85th. Happy birthday!! October 25th was a special day. That day we recognized the excellent work done by B-PC Schools principals Jerry Merrick and Steve Russell. Thank you for the leadership you provided to our schools for so many years. Our own Debbie Pestle became a grandmother again. Collin Wesley joined his parents Matt and Miranda Ritchey and brother Jackson on 10/9/02, weighing in at 7 lb 8 oz.
Friday, October 4th, the employees of the F & M Bank were among the 1.5 million other employees nationwide who each donated $5 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and participated in the Lee National Denim Day. The employees gladly donated and are proud to help fight this dreadful disease. In addition, the employees at Ludlum Food Mart participated and donated generously towards the search for a cure. Thank you to all of the F & M Bank and Ludlum Food Mart employees who took part in this event. Your donations will make a difference.
Missy was born to Jerry and Marcia Knapp of rural Avon. She attended B-PC High School, Spoon River College and Carl Sandburg College, and continues taking classes towards an associates degree in Adm. Office Managing. Missy and husband Justin (Tug) reside in Bushnell, celebrated their third wedding anniversary in April, and enjoy spending time with Chelsey Marie, a beautiful chocolate lab! When Missy isn’t working, she’s walking, doing appliqué stitchery, crafts, cleaning houses, or spending time with her husband and friends, and Ryan and Kaylene Reimolds and Adrianna Overbaker, her nieces and nephew. She says she learns something new each time she’s with them, and we’re not sure if she means the nieces and nephew or her husband. She also helps with the Presbyterian Church Bible School program, and is almost always the first to volunteer to help, no matter what the project! Some of Missy’s favorite recipes include: KOOKIE COOKIES
Place chips on greased 10” x 15” cookie sheet. Heat corn syrup and sugar until smooth. Remove from heat and add peanut butter. Pour over corn chips and allow to cool before serving. TORTILLA DIP
Mix all ingredients together and chill. Serve with tortilla or corn chips. QUICK & EASY MEATBALLS
Spread soup evenly in bottom of 8” x 13” glass dish. Combine the beef, water, onion soup mix, eggs and crumbs. Form 8 large meatballs. Place evenly atop the mushroom soup. Bake at 325º for 30 minutes. Turn meatballs once about half way through the baking time.
This Louisville KY based firm was founded in 1870 and employs 7,400 people. BF B has long term debt of $40 million with a debt-to-capital ratio of 3%. Between 1991 and 2001 sales-per-share have increased from $15.24 to $28.66, and earnings-per-share from $1.76 to $3.33. Brown-Forman ‘B’ recently traded at $69.25 with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.9 and a 52-week trading range of $58.69 to $80.54. When you sit down to one of your upcoming holiday feasts, you may already be supporting this company’s stock if your fine china and crystal are Lenox, you eat with Gorham silver, your candle holders are Kirk Stieff, and you toast your guests with a Fetzer, Korbel, or Jekel California Wine. If you choose to purchase stock in BF B, you also have the option of joining their Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) and Stock Purchase program, whereby dividends and additional cash payments purchase additional shares of stock. For more information on Brown-Forman ‘B’ or any other investments, please contact Shirley Rapp or any of the professionals of Trust-Mart® to help implement your investment decisions.
*This column is informational only, with no investment advice given or intended. Investments in securities are not insured by the FDIC, and involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. All material presented is compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Before buying any security, its prospectus should be carefully read. Trust-Mart© is a full-service trust department of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Bushnell, Illinois. Check it out!  Chances are you haven’t heard about the new IRS Savers Credit. Enacted last year as part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2001, it is available to eligible taxpayers who contribute to a retirement plan or IRA. This credit is available only from 2002 through 2006, and the benefit will help offset the cost of the first $2,000 contributed to certain retirement accounts and plans. The credit is for taxpayers with a non-adjusted gross income of $50,000 or less, and credit is calculated as a percentage of an employee’s contributions to an IRA or spousal contributions to an IRA. An eligible applicant must be 18 or older, not be a full-time student and not claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s tax return.
The maximum annual credit is $2,000 per year. Salary reduction contributions to the following arrangements are eligible for the credit: 401(k) plans, SIMPLE 401(k)s, 403(b) annuities, state and local government plans (457), SIMPLE IRAs, and salary reduction SEP IRAs.
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As harvest season comes to an end, now is a good time to review your current and future financial needs. Farmers & Merchants State Bank can help you with financing that will put you in good shape for the upcoming year, and for years to come.
As you enter the main bank’s lobby the first big smile you see probably belongs to our Melissia (Missy) Reimolds. The F & M family was fortunate to have Missy join us four years ago as the switchboard operator and receptionist, and she now also serves our customer needs as a teller. If you think that smile looks familiar, you may remember Missy from when she worked at Ludlum Food Mart.
