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THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY

DANVILLE — Danville School District 118 has three candidates and two write-in candidates running for the four open board seats in the April 1 election.

Candidates are current board member Darlene Halloran, former board member Christopher Easton, Toni Kimberline Towne and write-ins Tom Halloran and Harsha Gurujal. Three current board members in the four four-year terms up for election on the school board are not seeking re-election — President Randal Ashton (a 20-year member), Tyson Parks and Shannon Schroeder.

Election questionnaires were sent to the candidates.

Christoper Easton, 41, of Candlewick Lane, is married to Melanie (LCPC Alliance Counseling and Coaching) and they have a son, Isaiah (first year at University of Pennsylvania), and daughter, Bailee Easton (sophomore at Danville High School). Education: Grand Valley High School (Orwell, Ohio); Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Mount Vernon, Ohio; Bachelor of Arts, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.; Master of Divinity. He’s employed as Illinois Department of Corrections chaplain at the Danville Correctional Center, Danville Area Community College course instructor (Literature and Philosophy) — part time and interim Pastor Grace Community Church of the Nazarene — part time. He was a school board member from Oct. 2021 to May 2023. He’s current treasurer with the DHS Choir Music Boosters.

Darlene Halloran, 71, of Denmark Road, is married to Tom and they have three grown children and seven grandchildren. Education: Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Syracuse University. She’s retired, and this would be her third term on the school board. She’s also worked on numerous political campaigns.

Toni Kimberlin Towne, 57, of Rue Conti St., is married to Curtis and they have three daughters. Education: Schlarman HS Fr; Danville HS So – Sr; DACC Associates of Applied Sciences (Accounting & Business Administration); Illinois State University Bachelor of Science (Marketing). She’s currently a stay-at-home mom/grandma and a volunteer. She’s currently serving on the Danville Public Library Foundation Board and Danville Country Club Board of Directors.

Thomas Halloran, 74, of Denmark Road, is married to Darlene, who was a counselor at District 118 for several years and an incumbent on the school board for past eight years. They have three children, all DHS graduates with all of their primary and secondary education at Danville public schools. Five of their seven grandchildren are in Danville schools, from two high school seniors to preschool. Education: Biology B.S. at St. Bonaventure University, Doctor of Medicine at State University of New York Syracuse, Residency Internal Medicine US Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Va., Board Certified Fellow American College of Physicians, staff physician Naval hospitals Guam and Bremerton, WA, Commander, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy, 13 years active duty, Navy Achievement Medal. He’s an adult medicine physician with Carle Health, Danville Carle at the Riverfront, for 40 years.

He says he’s not served on a school board. However, “there is a long family tradition and I feel it is my turn. My wife Darlene is an eight-year incumbent and community involved citizen. My dad, and both my grandfathers, had in aggregate over 50 years on the school board in our home school district in Western New York.” Tom also is founder of Trees for Danville, notable for having planted thousands of trees in Danville, and associated with Danville Soccer since before the soccer complex was even an idea.

Harsha Gurujal, 62, of Walnut Street, is married to Susie Gurujal Their four children are graduates of DHS. Education: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate with a B.S. in Basic Sciences and Speech Communication. He’s worked on a post graduate degree in marketing and in social work. He’s taught at DACC in the Speech, Math and Adult Education departments. Employment: Manager with Outback Steakhouse in Champaign. He said he has political aspirations, but he’s lost every election he’s been in. He’s served on several boards in the Danville community including with the 708 Board, United Way, Peer Court and YMCA. He’s an ambassador for the ALS Association.

What’s your top three priorities for Danville School District 118?

Stories You May Have Missed

ABOVE: Pictures of former WDAN-TV and WDAN Radio (respectively) workers Gene Hackman (right) and Dick Van Dyke (left); located on the front wall of the CIMG radio building at 1501 N. Washington in Danville.

The passing of Oscar winning actor and Danville native Gene Hackman has brought about loads of memories about Hackman’s time not just in Danville, but also in the very building that still holds 1490 WDAN Radio at 1501 North Washington. At one time, that building also held WDAN-TV. And as former 1490 WDAN General Manager Mike Hulvey reminds us, Hackman was not a star, but just a crewman at WDAN-TV in the 50s. And his high school picture is on the front wall of the building today.

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AUDIO: He worked behind the scenes. He was a cameraman, he was an artist; at WDAN Television. And that was after his time in the Marine Corps, but before he ventured out to New York and Los Angeles to begin his career.

As Hulvey recalls, the old television studio area is in the back of the building. And it’s easy to imagine a young Gene Hackman walking in to work.

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AUDIO: You go down the main hallway at the radio station in Danville on North Washington Avenue, and then zig-zag your way down to the old television studio; because every day that Gene Hackman worked in that building, that was exactly the path that he took. And so I always would affectionately refer to that as “The Hackman Hallway.”

Local broadcast historian, as well as former D102 DJ Doug Quick remembers learning about Hackman from someone who had once worked with him, former Sales Manager John Eckert.

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AUDIO: As John told me, he (Gene Hackman) was a member of the studio crew. Basically, he was a camera operator and whatever else that was needed for a set up. And in those times, commercials were done live. So they would have to reset the studio each time a local commercial would play, and they would show products on a table. And that’s what he probably did.

Quick also remembered one time years ago when he just missed Hackman, at Danville’s old Ryan’s Restaurant.

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AUDIO: I went with my family to eat there one time; and the server, the hostess, she told me, she says “You’re the second celebrity that’s been in here today.” And I said, “Okay, who was the first?” And she said, “Gene Hackman.” And I said, “Listen, I’m not even in the same ballpark of Gene Hackman!”

Danville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Jeanie Cooke says it’s wonderful how Hackman kept Danville close to his heart.

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AUDIO: Danville was always his hometown. If he was going to visit with somebody, he was going to talk about how much he loved Danville, Illinois. And that means a lot to the residents, I think, and the people that live here. We all have, I think, a real soft spot for Gene Hackman. I know he kept in very close touch with his high school friends here. It gives you a warm feeling to know that someone remembers where they’re from.

Hackman, and his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog, were found deceased this week in their Santa Fe home. Hackman was 95.