130 Years Ago
January 26, 1895
C. W. Keck and family had quite a scare Tuesday night and narrowly escaped losing their home by fire. The fire caught in some way beneath the hearth of a grate upstairs. However, the hearth was torn out and the danger averted without much loss. However, their little daughter has lung fever, probably aggravated by the fright over the narrow escape of the home from fire.
The agitation of the question of incorporation as a city is quite general and animated and apparently there is a preponderance of sentiment in its favor.
Chas. Maunder has returned from his England trip and says he is glad to be in America again.
The enrollment of the Fairbury school lacks only thirteen of being 600.
120 Years Ago
January 27, 1905
An oyster supper was given at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Orendorff, near Weston, Thursday evening January 12. A hammock, which was made by Mr. William Leister, of Eppards Point, who is almost bereft of eyesight, was raffled off to the person holding the lucky number, numbers being sold from one to forty-three. The lucky number, forty-two, was held by John Ziller. Oysters were served by Messrs. Ricketts and Orendorff. The evening was spent in playing various games and gramophone music, which was enjoyed by all. The tickets for the raffle were sold by Miss Stella and Aldey Ricketts and Mr. Earl Holmes, of Weston. The proceeds were nine dollars, which will be turned over to Mr. Leister.
The estate of the late Lander Baker of Chenoa, which was valued at $84,000, has been divided among his seven children, each receiving a farm near Chenoa ranging from 80 to 212 acres. Mr. Baker died without a will and the division of the property was made by the children without the appointment of an administrator.
Forrest — A member of the state board of health was here this week investigating the smallpox report. It seems that one of our neighboring towns saw fit to write us up, claiming that we should be quarantined. After a thorough investigation the gentleman concluded that we were living within the bounds of the law and found no fault whatever.
110 Years Ago
January 29, 1915
G. A. Heckman, Fairbury's popular merchant tailor, this week sold half interest in his business to Thomas Watson of Morocco, Ind. Mr. Watson and wife will move here.
The Banner class of the Baptist Sunday School gave their teacher, Isam Travis, a surprise Monday evening, the occasion being his thirty-first birthday. During the evening he was presented with a beautiful Bible.
G. R. McCabe was in Chicago this week attending the automobile show and getting paraphernalia for the Phi Chi Psi minstrel show.
Frank Heckman has leased the C. H. Maunder property on South Fifth Street, recently vacated by Mr. and Mrs. Leis, and with his family will occupy it.
100 Years Ago
January 30, 1925
Deputy Sheriff Codlin, of this city, and J. Scarratt, of Pontiac, motored over to Hamlet, Ind., last Saturday, where they took into custody Ellis Reavis, said to be the head of the bunch of chicken thieves who for some time past have been active in this vicinity. Reavis was arrested on two charges of burglary and larceny. Virgil Hornsby and George Fendrick were arrested last week on the same charges as Reavis. To Deputy Sheriff R. J. Codlin belongs the credit of rounding up those who have for some time been causing chicken owners anxious moments. He has been on their trail for several weeks and little by little gathered up evidence against them.
A boy whose name we were unable to learn, had a narrow escape out at the old west coal mine hill the other day. The path down which he coasted extended out to the railroad tracks. As a freight train came along the boy started down the hill on his sled and was headed right into the string of cars that was passing by. He tried to change the course of his sled, but it wouldn't change, and he passed under the drawbar of the caboose just as it went along. A fraction of a second sooner and he would have been caught in the trucks of the car.
Crossed wires on the railroad motor car used by the section men, ignited some gasoline that had been spilled on the tank, Wednesday morning and set fire to the car, damaging it to the extent of about $20. The car was in the depot which is on the south side of the tracks between Second and Third Streets. It was pushed out of the building without damaging either the building or contents.
90 Years Ago
January 25, 1935
H. A. Foster put in a busy day yesterday garnering a crop of honey from the underside of a floor in an upstairs room at his home, where a swarm of bees have been conducting a honey factory for the past four years. Mr. Foster took around 150 pounds of honey. There was a large amount of empty comb indicating last year was not a good year for gathering honey.
Joe Shults, who for the past year and a half has been manager of the local A. & P. store, was yesterday transferred to Peoria, where he will have charge of the largest A. & P. store in that city. The transfer is a nice promotion for Mr. Shults and speaks for itself of the fine service he has given the company and its customers. Joe will be missed by his many friends here, and especially on the softball team, where he gave a good account of himself at third base. Herbert Kammeryer, of Decatur, took up his duties yesterday as manager of the local store. Mrs. Kammeryer will join him here as soon as a suitable house is secured.
E. H. Dameron, residing southwest of Weston, has just recently put in operation a wind-power plant on his farm. The wind-power plant is just what the name implies and consists of wind-driven propellers that operate an electric generator, which in turn charges a set of especially constructed batteries, which also in turn furnish electricity for lighting, power and heat. The wind-driven propellers are erected on a tower just like an ordinary windmill. The blades of the propellers, of which there are three, are six feet long and are automatically adjusted to wind speed.
80 Years Ago
January 26, 1945
On Thursday, January 18, at Grace Methodist Church, Bloomington, Miss Laurastine Harris, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Harris, of Colfax, became the bide of Sammie Koehl, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Koehl, of Fairbury. The double-ring service was read by the Rev. C. B. Friend. The attendants were the bride's sister, Mrs. Flora Armstrong, and the groom's brother, Richard Koehl. Following a short trip Mr. and Mrs. Koehl will be at home on a farm.
Eston Kamrath, of Forrest, was one of the two prize winners at the home-made labor-saving devices show held on Tuesday noon at the grade school gymnasium in Pontiac. The other winner was H. J. Kramer, Pontiac. The show was staged by the Farm Bureau in conjunction with the extension service of the College of Agriculture, University of Illinois. The show was attended by some 800 farmers and other interested persons. Mr. Kamrath won his prize in the electrically operated class. It was a pump jack, the total cost of which was around $3, with ten cents worth of material gathered up around home.
MT/Sgt5. Dewey Demler has been transferred from Columbia, S. C., to Parris Island, S. C., to spend three weeks at a gunnery school. On December 31, Sgt. Demler graduated from the advanced ordnance school at Jacksonville, Fla., being high man in his class and highest of any marine to ever go through that school. Mrs. Demler arrived here Wednesday to spend three weeks with her mother, Mrs. C. H. Schnetzler, while Sgt. Demler is at Parris Island.
70 Years Ago
January 27, 1955
The removal of all slot machines in Livingston County has been ordered by State's Attorney John Taylor and Sheriff Willis Harms. Apparently this has no bearing on Fairbury, since Mayor Roy Taylor told The Blade that he knows of no slot machines in operation in Fairbury during the past 15 years.
Mrs. Victor Armstrong received a broken arm Saturday at 4 p.m. when her car skidded on the ice at Fourth and Walnut, skidding into a utility pole while avoiding another car. Her son George received a cut face when he was thrown through the windshield by the impact, while her other son Brian suffered an injured nose.
Richard Kilgus will manage Walton's grocery department, beginning Jan. 31. He will replace Carl Metz, who is now employed at the E. Moser garage.
Harold Bruniga was elected as a new director at the annual meeting Wednesday night of the Fairbury Federal Savings and Loan Association. Other directors were re-elected.
60 Years Ago
January 28, 1965
Alton Schieler of Fairbury won first place with his corn silage sample at the Livingston County Dairy Day on January 23 in Pontiac, attended by over 60 persons. Other winners were: Clyde Taplin of Pontiac, first with haylage; Eli Aupperle of Fairbury, first with alfalfa hay; and Boyd Tombaugh of Streator, first with mixed hay. There were a total of 18 samples entered in the Hay and Silage show, according to Fred Kyburz, member of Dairy Committee in charge of the exhibits.
The bus carrying students of Fairbury-Cropsey High School to the Marseilles game suffered a breakdown Friday night, and it was necessary for school authorities to charter a special bus from Morris to bring the fans home. They arrived about 12:30 a.m. The team bus was also delayed since it had stopped to help the disabled unit, driven by Dick Mowry, put out flares and get help.
Ellen Rae Fugate and Paul Fagot have been named the outstanding citizens of the senior class at Fairbury-Cropsey High School, and will receive the annual Good Citizen award citations conferred respectively by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution. Each was selected by faculty vote, from among a group of three girls and three boys, who were earlier chosen by vote of the senior class. Miss Fugate, the daughter of Howard Fugate of Fairbury, is active in band, Blue Notes, chorus, yearbook and student council. Fagot, the son of Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy Fagot, is active in band, Blue Notes, baseball, basketball and student council.
50 Years Ago
January 30, 1975
Former Fairbury-Cropsey High School principal Charles Lane will become superintendent of the Bradford School District. Lane has served as principal of Bradford High School for the past two years. Prior to going to Bradford, Lane was principal of FCHS for six years. He left Unit 3 rather than accept a reassignment to a classroom teaching position. Ironically, the bench trial for Lane's law suit against the district in connection with his reassignment was due to open today in Pontiac.
Elected this week to the 1975 FHA Sweetheart Court were Jean Ann Friedman, Janet Kinkade, Alma Meister, Anna Meister, Elaine Steidinger and Renee Taylor, all seniors at Fairbury-Cropsey High School. One young lady will be chosen later to serve as queen at the Sweetheart Dance to be held February 15 in the high school gymnasium.
Two Fairbury-Cropsey High School students, Alma Meister and Carl Herzog, have been named the 1975 winners of the Daughters of and Sons of the American Revolution awards. Herzog, the SAR winner, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Herzog of Fairbury. He was the eighth grade winner of the American Legion award, a member of the National Honor Society, and the president of the FCHS Math Club. Alma, the DAR winner, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Meister of Fairbury. For three of her four years in Future Homemakers of America, she served as a club officer. She has participated in various forms of FCHS girls' sports, and was a member of the 1975 volleyball squad that captured the El Paso district tournament. She also won the women's division of the Cornbelt Press, Inc. tennis tournament. The winners are selected by the faculty of each participating school and are selected for their all-around good citizenship.
40 Years Ago
January 24, 1985
A post-midnight snack resulted in a total disaster early Tuesday for the family of Fairbury Postmaster John Reis. One of three of their four sons still residing at home, and all of whom have late evening jobs, reportedly was cooking a late meal when a grease fire erupted shortly before 1 a.m. When it was over, shortly after dawn, the family home had been burned to the ground, with almost a total loss. The five family members escaped unscathed, but only with the clothes they had on their backs.
Virg Kyburz, Fairbury's Superintendent of Streets and Alleys has been hospitalized since Friday, Jan. 11, after a discarded refrigerator fell on him at a curbside. The appliance had been left at curbside at a residence and Kyburz was trying to move it so it would be face down and not pose a suffocation problem to a curious youngster. Instead, the refrigerator fell against the superintendent and severed the tip of the second toe on his right foot, causing terrible and extreme pain.
Angela Patricia Bartlett, 17, of Zimbabwe, will arrive in Fairbury Monday to begin her year's visit as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. She will attend Fairbury-Cropsey High School for the calendar year and will have senior status. For her first months, she will reside with the Jerry Fairclough family. In Rhodesia, Angela's father, John, and mother, Josephine, own a 3,000 acre farm outside of Harare (Zimbabwe's capital), where tobacco, wheat, maize and white beans are grown. Tobacco is their main crop.
30 Years Ago
January 25, 1995
A solid waste incinerator will not be coming to the Forrest area, at least in the near future. In a letter to Ron "Bump" Steidinger, president of the Forrest Village Development Corporation, John L. Kirby, of Kirby-Coffman, Inc., developers, formally announced that the solid waste incinerator project proposed for an 8-acre tract located north of Forrest, is now "secondary to another project that has more general support." He continued, "Pleasant Ridge Township officials and others have been steadfast in opposing the project and it could be a long legal battle that we are not interested in pursuing."
Wesley Klehm, a sixth grade student at Chatsworth Elementary, won the school-level competition of the National Geography Bee on Dec. 19 and a chance at a $25,000 college scholarship. Of 57 participants, the top five, in order, were in addition to Wesley, Doug Keever, Alex Metz, Amy Dehm, all fifth graders at Chatsworth, and Ben Wenger, a sixth grade student from Forrest. The school-level Bee, at which students answered oral questions on geography, was the first round in the seventh annual National Geography Bee.
The Illinois Dietary Managers Association recently announced that Sue Rinkenberger, DCM, of Forrest, has been chosen to serve as Executive Officer of the Dietary Managers Association (DMA) for the coming year. The association has 13,000 members nationwide and 500 in Illinois. Rinkenberger has been an employee at Fairview Haven Nursing Home, Fairbury, for 17 years and has been the dietetic director for 15 years.
20 Years Ago
January 26, 2005
Officer Philip Troehler of the Fairbury Police Department was presented with a Gold Star Award at Fairbury's City Council meeting on Wednesday night. The award was from the EMS Medical Director and EMS System Coordinator of OSF St. James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center at Pontiac. The award was for a pre-hospital save on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2004. Troehler related what had happened to the council and thanked the city for having automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the officers' squad cars.
The Westview Elementary third grade teaching team of Janet Aberle, Jayne Trowitch and Louann Harms have been chosen as Livingston County Conservation Education Teachers of the Year for Grades K-6. These three teachers do a fantastic job of teaching their students about the importance of the Earth's natural resources. These three teachers have also had their students participate in activities involving recycling and the planting of seedlings provided by the Soil and Water Conservation District.
Dave's Supermarket recently hosted a Christmas Open House for the Dave's Team in their Fairbury Room. Several team members were recognized for their longevity at Dave's: Keith Zimmerman of Gridley, 30 years; Kelly McBride of Lexington, 20 years; Quentin and Myrna Huette of Fairbury, 15 years; Carol Border of Fairbury, 15 years; and Dan Todd of Chenoa, 10 years.
10 Years Ago
January 28 2015
Rural Fairbury resident Bill Fugate probably won't forget his final Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs Convention as secretary/treasurer. The retiring Fugate was the focus of an entertaining speech from friend Tom Schahrer. Schahrer also recognized Fugate's wife Kay as his main supporter, cheerleader and number one partner for over 50 years. Outgoing Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Bob Flider noted Fugate's “can-do attitude” and his outstanding advocacy for county fairs when presenting a plaque in Fugate's honor. Fugate has been involved with IAAF for well over 20 years and served as state president prior to 2000.
OSF Saint James – John W. Albrecht Medical Center recently announced the 1st Quarter Achievers In Mission (AIM) for Excellence Award recipient for 2015, Susan M. Ifft, a registered nurse for OSF Medical Group – Primary Care in Pontiac. Ifft began her career with OSF July 15, 1991 and was selected for this honor due to her many wonderful and caring qualities. With this honor, Ifft received a framed certificate of appreciation, a monetary amount, a reception in her department, a corsage and a special parking place for the quarter. Her name and picture were added to the AIM for Excellence plaque located in the hospital lobby.
Kari Diller of Chatsworth and Joel King of Piper City are announcing their engagement and approaching marriage. The bride-to-be is the daughter of David and Kay Diller of Chatsworth. She is a graduate of Prairie Central High School and Eureka College. She is employed as a teacher in the Prairie Central School District. The future bridegroom is the son of Brian and Leslie King of Piper City. He is a graduate of Prairie Central High School and Illinois State University. He is employed at Compass Insurance Partners. The couple plans to be married on June 13, 2015 at Eastview Christian Church.
"Looking Back" from Kari Kamrath is sponsored each week by Duffy-Pils Memorial Home.
