RUSHVILLE (AP) — Everybody knows Megan Ervin and her family in this small town, which in many ways is a comfortable throwback to a much kinder and gentler time.

Ervin, the reigning Miss Illinois and Miss Quincy, has without any great fanfare become one of Rushville's quiet treasures in her own effervescent way.

Sue Sheppard is a waitress at Pizza Unlimited, which sits in a cozy little structure just off the town's southeast edge. The walls are covered with pictures of TV series such as "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Leave it to Beaver," not to mention a wall dedicated to Elvis and the Beatles.