By Barbara Augsdorfer, editor for the Effingham Herald
The 13 Stars event venue in Springfield applied for and received approval March 11 from the Springfield City Council to obtain a full-time alcohol license. The venue is located at 122 N. Laurel St.
Now, instead of applying for alcohol licenses individually for private events, the owners of 13 Stars said the new license will reduce paperwork and allow them to buy from more than one distributor and offer a wider variety of beverages.
“One of the bigger things, I think, that's important to us, is that even though we appreciate being allowed to be a BYOB establishment, that does create some insurance liability for us, because we don't know who's pouring and then who's drinking,” said co-owner Ivy Eilerman. “We actually do have two certified servers,” she added, which is in compliance with the city ordinance regarding event venues that wish to serve alcohol.
According to the city ordinance, a certified server is responsible for serving alcohol and monitoring patrons for signs of intoxication.
“We are just operating as we normally would operate. We're not going to change anything. It's just going to help us with the paperwork and the call side,” Ricky Eilerman added.
“And we'll be able to actually be in control of how much is poured, when a drink is served, and we'll be able to check every ID,” Ivy said.
Ricky added that not all events hosted by 13 Stars serve alcohol. They do many family-friendly and kid-friendly events, such as birthday parties. The venue would also continue to be open for public events held by the city if it isn’t already rented for a private event at the same time.
“From an operational standpoint, the way (the ordinance) is currently set up, the only time we interact with them is when they want to have alcohol,” City Manager Matt Morris explained. “We aren't notified of any other events that happen if they're not serving alcohol.
“Going forward, if (the license) were approved, we would then be able to request that (event) list to say, ‘Alright, how many did you have? How many were public? How many were private?’ So that's where the ordinance really has its teeth.”
Another condition of the city ordinance is to have food available while serving alcohol. The Eilerman’s assured the council that even though the venue is not set up with a kitchen, food trucks are always onsite during events.
The Springfield City Council also discussed the annexation and rezoning of a parcel of property located at McCall Road and Hwy. 21, currently owned by Kildare Land Co., from Effingham County AR-1 to City of Springfield B-1 and AR-1. No vote was taken at this point, but council members discussed that they would not move forward with developing the property until the new traffic light is up and operational at that intersection.
Springfield Lighted Christmas Parade
The first Lighted Christmas Parade on Dec. 7, 2024, was well received by the public.
Ivory Brown, a teacher of exceptional students at Ebenezer Middle School, coordinator of the school’s Best Buddies program, and 2024-2025 ECSD Teacher of the Year, has been named grand marshal of the 2025 Lighted Christmas Parade.
